Priceless Services

Last year, the United States spent $80 billion on its intelligence services. For anyone wondering just how much the U.S. is willing to spend on security, this figure tells the whole story.

It’s only a number made public by America’s spymaster James Clapper, but it tells the whole story. According to the most recent budget figures, the United States spent $80 billion on its intelligence services. That’s € 58 billion.

The magnitude wasn’t unexpected but the insanity of it hardly helps make it more palatable. For the same amount of money, China — the number two global military power after the United States — spends that much on its entire defense budget. And despite all that, the United States couldn’t even stop a terrorist bomber from setting off his explosive underwear in an aircraft over Detroit. And while we’re on the subject of numbers games, the United States spends more on intelligence services than it does on education, which only got $64 billion. And those interested in knowing how much the United States is willing to spend in total for security need only do the arithmetic: $534 billion on the Pentagon + $130 billion on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan + $80 billion on intelligence services + $53 billion on Homeland Security for a grand total of $797 billion.

We most certainly live in a world full of dangerous hazards. One of those hazards is that our obsession with security will cause us to arm ourselves into oblivion.