As the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues into its fourth month, the United States has been drawn further into the conflict, with Congress recently passing a military aid package of $40 billion. Of those funds, $19 billion are slated to go to direct military support, and the rest either to humanitarian aid or sustaining U.S. troops throughout Europe.
Between 2014 and 2021, the United States sent $2.7 billion to aid the Ukrainian military. The series of military aid packages to Ukraine since February averaged $30 million a day, while the current $40 billion package increases the average to $135 million a day.
Of course, we are sympathetic to the suffering of the Ukrainians and want to see them supported. But the rulers of the United States could not care less about the plight of the Ukrainians. They are cynically using the Ukrainian people as pawns in the greater confrontation between the U.S. and Russia. If the rulers of the U.S. and Western Europe were serious about helping Ukraine, they would cancel their national debt of approximately $54 billion. But of course, canceling that debt would cut the profits of Western hedge funds who collect interest from the labor of Ukrainians, whereas military aid packages provide lucrative contracts to U.S. arms manufacturers. This military aid package is not about helping the Ukrainian people or advancing the cause of freedom abroad. It is a way to convert tax dollars into profits for U.S. corporations.
At a time of record inflation and economic instability worldwide, why is it that when it comes to military spending like this aid package to Ukraine, we never hear the question, “How will we pay for that?” But when it comes to anything related to improving our lives, the mainstream media and politicians always hit us with that line. We are told we cannot afford to invest in education, in healthcare, or in well-paying jobs. For the capitalists who rule this society, human lives are not worth the investment. But “financial aid” comes freely when it can be used to increase their profits.
