Would you die for your country?

Before you answer, when it comes to war, shouldn’t those who have the most to lose be the ones who fight and die first?

If you’re one of the poorest 50% of Americans, you share less than 2.5% of the USA’s wealth.

At the same time, the wealthiest 10% of Americans hoard 67.4% of the country’s wealth.

If America is attacked, they have much, much more to lose. Shouldn’t they be the ones to fight and die first? That’s 34 million soldiers. They’d whip everyone’s ass.

Though, thinking about it, perhaps you only need the top 1% to fight. That’s 3.4 million people fighting to protect their 31% share of America’s wealth. Don’t you reckon they’d be super-motivated to protect all their money?

Actually, if the war’s not even against a near-peer adversary, the top 0.1% could probably handle it on their own. 340,000 overly-privileged, super-wealthy people trying to save their 13.9% wealth share. Put another way, their $23.33 trillion or more than $68 million each.

Come on, don’t you imagine that, led from the front by Musk, Bezos, Zuckerberg, the Ellisons (Snr and Jnr), Brin and Page, etc, etc, the incomparable fighting force would surely throw themselves wholeheartedly into the pitched battle. Each one fighting like 10,000 maniacs to defend their indefensible share of America’s wealth?

I know I imagine that. Frequently.

So, isn’t it odd that wars are always fought by the poorest members of society? Those who don’t have a family physician to diagnose an imaginary, yet imaginative, health issue that saves them from being killed by another country’s poor people (or suckers, as the wealthy prefer to call them).

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Click to copy post textBefore you answer, when it comes to war, shouldn't those who have the most to lose be the ones who fight and die first? If you're one of the poorest 50% of Americans, you share less than 2.5% of the USA's wealth. At the same time, the wealthiest 10% of Americans hoard 67.4% of the country's wealth. If America is attacked, they have much, much more to lose. Shouldn't they be the ones to fight and die first? That's 34 million soldiers. They'd whip everyone's ass. Though, thinking about it, perhaps you only need the top 1% to fight. That's 3.4 million people fighting to protect their 31% share of America's wealth. Don't you reckon they'd be super-motivated to protect all their money? Actually, if the war's not even against a near-peer adversary, the top 0.1% could probably handle it on their own. 340,000 overly-privileged, super-wealthy people trying to save their 13.9% wealth share. Put another way, their $23.33 trillion or more than $68 million each. Come on, don't you imagine that, led from the front by Musk, Bezos, Zuckerberg, the Ellisons (Snr and Jnr), Brin and Page, etc, etc, the incomparable fighting force would surely throw themselves wholeheartedly into the pitched battle. Each one fighting like 10,000 maniacs to defend their indefensible share of America's wealth? I know I imagine that. Frequently. So, isn't it odd that wars are always fought by the poorest members of society? Those who don't have a family physician to diagnose an imaginary, yet imaginative, health issue that saves them from being killed by another country's poor people (or suckers, as the wealthy prefer to call them).

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Would you die for your country? © 2025 by Jethro H. Forclift is licensed under CC BY-ND 4.0