We'd get there even faster with the money mismanaged by the US welfare system. Armed forces is only 23% of the US federal budget. Welfare's a whopping 40%.
Of course, without American armed forces and the Pax Americana, the unprecedented world peace (relatively speaking) we have right now likely would not endure. And without welfare spending, morale would decline when old people and children that didn't need to die do. Both outcomes would likely lead to economic decline. Then we might not get there so fast after all.
Sometimes the expedient-seeming solution isn't always the best one.
> Of course, without American armed forces and the Pax Americana
I didn't know that mismanagement and embezzlement of funds was a vital core aspect of the Pax Americana.
Similarly, the US health care system is about twice as expensive as comparable foreign systems for the same level of service provided. You can reform it and make it more efficient without compromising its mission.
Of course, without American armed forces and the Pax Americana, the unprecedented world peace (relatively speaking) we have right now likely would not endure. And without welfare spending, morale would decline when old people and children that didn't need to die do. Both outcomes would likely lead to economic decline. Then we might not get there so fast after all.
Sometimes the expedient-seeming solution isn't always the best one.