In the last half century, the United States has undergone one of the largest upward wealth transfers in modern history. Since the mid-1970s, policy changes, deregulation, tax cuts for the wealthy, and the weakening of labor rights have shifted income and assets toward the richest Americans.
Today, the top 10 percent of the population holds roughly 70 percent of the nation’s wealth. Meanwhile, median wages of the working class have stagnated when adjusted for inflation, the cost of housing and health care has soared, and economic mobility has sharply declined. This economic imbalance is not only unjust, it is dangerous. A democracy cannot survive when the majority feels permanently locked out of prosperity. Without correction, revolution becomes a possibility.
If we are serious about restoring balance, two urgent issues must be addressed: wealth redistribution and the nation’s excessive military spending. Over the last five decades, the federal budget has consistently prioritized defense over domestic welfare. In 2025, U.S. military spending exceeded $832 billion, more than the next 10 countries combined.
Parenthetically, Trump has proposed a $1.01 trillion defense budget for fiscal year 2026, representing an approximate 13.4% increase from FY2025. Yet the current administration’s stated goals include backing away from the role of “world’s policeman” and ending the subsidization of our allies’ security. This contradiction invites a fundamental question: Why are we still operating hundreds of overseas bases when we claim to be reducing our international military footprint?
The justification for maintaining a massive overseas presence often rests on outdated Cold War thinking. While deterrence remains relevant in some regions, it is worth asking whether our security is truly enhanced by maintaining 750 bases (128 major) in more than 80 countries. In the case of Taiwan, the United States faces the risk of being drawn into a catastrophic conflict with China. A negotiated settlement that preserves Taiwan’s autonomy while reducing tensions could serve the cause of world peace more effectively than a militarized standoff.
Today, the geopolitical map is shifting. The alignment of Russia and China, along with the rise of India and other emerging economies, signals the emergence of a formidable economic and military power.
Only a madman would advocate the use of nuclear weapons in today’s world. Nevertheless, recently the U.S. has made veiled threats suggesting we indeed would use nuclear weapons. Our country has deployed nuclear task forces on occasion to back-up these threats.
Keep in mind, the United States no longer holds unchallenged dominance as it did after World War II. Clinging to the remnants of an overstretched empire is a recipe for economic exhaustion and strategic overreach. Instead, this moment offers an opportunity to engage in real diplomacy aimed at establishing a global security framework that benefits multiple nations, not just one.
A 50 percent cut to the defense budget would still leave the United States with the world’s largest military by a wide margin. The savings, over $400 billion of military cuts, annually, coupled with another $500 billion of additional annual taxes realized by rolling back the Trump 2017 and 2025 tax cuts for the rich and taxing inheritance could dramatically transform the domestic landscape. These funds could reinvigorate our education and scientific research efforts, and be invested in badly needed infrastructure and climate resilience. Redirecting this money toward rebuilding education, health care, infrastructure, and social safety nets would begin to reverse the decades-long erosion of basic foundations supporting our standard of living.
The best course for the United States is clear. First, enact policies that directly redistribute wealth through progressive taxation, stronger labor protections, and universal social programs. Second, reduce military spending to align with actual defense needs rather than outdated imperial ambitions. Third, engage in strategic diplomacy with rivals to reduce flashpoints, including in East Asia, and to explore cooperative, world-wide security arrangements. Finally, reinvest freed resources in the domestic economy to restore the lost prosperity that underpins both democracy and national strength.
If America stays on its current path, decline is inevitable and most likely certain, but reversing it will require political courage. If we fail to act, the concentration of wealth and the drain of endless military commitments will ensure that the erosion of our standard of living becomes continuous and permanent. And even worse, revolution will ensue.
The choice between decline and renewal is still ours to make. You and your vote hold that choice in your hands.
Van Abbott is a longtime resident of Ketchikan, first arriving in 1984. He served as assistant finance director for the City of Ketchikan and the Ketchikan Gateway Borough and was Ketchikan Public Utilities’ Telecommunications division manager for over a decade. He also has lived in Fairbanks for six years and Anchorage for five.
