Newsweek's Battleship Article Misses the Real War Machine: Endless Budgets
In an article titled “How Donald Trump’s Battleships Will Compare to Current Navy Fleet,” Newsweek provided a detailed, technocratic analysis of a hypothetical, politically motivated defense fantasy. We're treated to shipbuilding specs and comparisons while carefully sidestepping the actual, obscene military budget that makes such fantastical war machines, real or imagined, even fathomable.
The article performs an impressive feat of naval architecture — for a ship that exists only in a politician's dream and taxpayer's wallet. This isn't about battleships; it's about the spectacle. The Pentagon’s budget is the real war machine, not some retro-fitted behemoth. In 2023, the U.S. defense budget topped $886 billion (Congressional Budget Office). That's more than the next ten largest
military spenders combined, all without a single thought to where these funds could address crumbling infrastructure, failing healthcare, or endless student debt. Newsweek, like clockwork, dutifully reported on what an imaginary battleship *might* do, rather than what real defense spending *actually* does: enrich contractors and perpetuate global conflict. The media frames it as a geopolitical
necessity, not a colossal drain on public resources. How many imaginary battleships must we fund before we question the shipyard owners?