War Abroad, Neglect at Home

By Mohamad Hammoud 

The United States government consistently prioritizes military dominance and the financing of foreign conflicts over the basic survival of its own citizens. While federal agencies routinely lecture other nations on human rights, the domestic landscape tells a different story-one marked by widespread homelessness, addiction, and systemic neglect. Recent 2026 data from ConsumerShield indicate that more than 770,000 Americans are currently homeless, the highest figure on record and a stark indicator of a collapsing social safety net.

This crisis persists despite unprecedented federal spending. According to the Department of the Treasury, the federal government spent approximately $1.83 trillion in the first quarter of fiscal year 2026 alone. Of that amount, an estimated 15 percent-over $1.48 trillion-is allocated to so-called “national defense,” while only about 2 percent is directed toward education, workforce training, and social services. This disproportionate investment in militarization over human welfare reflects a policy framework that tolerates domestic deprivation while sustaining perpetual war abroad, leaving millions of Americans to struggle-and, in many cases, to perish-on their own streets.

Environmental Disaster as Policy Failure

Nowhere was this neglect more clearly exposed than during the catastrophic Winter Storm Fern, which swept across the United States, resulting in the deaths of at least 30 people and leaving millions without electricity. Reporting by The Guardian confirmed that at least five individuals were found dead on the streets of New York City alone-frozen in the shadows of luxury high-rise buildings. These entirely preventable deaths underscore a government more invested in projecting power abroad than in safeguarding its own population from predictable environmental disasters. As American citizens froze to death, the federal government continued facilitating the transfer of advanced weaponry to foreign conflicts, a policy choice critic argue prioritizes the spilling of blood overseas over the preservation of life at home.

Billions for Foreign Wars, Pennies for Survival

The scale of American military spending becomes even more striking when contrasted with its refusal to fund domestic housing and health solutions. According to the Quincy Institute, the United States has provided at least $21.7 billion in direct military aid to “Israel” since late 2023, funding a campaign that international observers have labeled a genocide in Gaza. This figure excludes tens of billions more in future arms sales already approved, ensuring the machinery of war remains fully operational for years to come. Meanwhile, the 2026 federal budget continues to expand military allocations while domestic programs addressing education and drug addiction receive only marginal funding. Additionally, the Brown University Costs of War project estimates that nearly $8 trillion has been spent on post-9/11 conflicts, showing a continuing preference for foreign engagements over urgent domestic needs.

In the same budget, discretionary funding for the Department of War-formerly the Department of Defense-surged past $1 trillion, a 13.4 percent increase from the previous year. In sharp contrast, the National Institute on Behavioral Health requested less than $1 billion for drug control and addiction research, though the fentanyl crisis continues to claim more than 100,000 American lives annually.

Incarceration, Neglect, and State Violence

This financial obsession with conflict feeds the nation’s status as a global leader in mass incarceration and social abandonment. According to the World Prison Brief, the United States holds 20 percent of the world’s incarcerated population while accounting for just 5 percent of its inhabitants. With an incarceration rate of 531 people per 100,000, the US punishes its population at rates far exceeding those of many European allies. Rather than investing in education- which generates an estimated 13 jobs per million dollars spent-the government sustains a punitive system that disproportionately targets the poor and the addicted.
Beyond funding, the government ignores the deeper moral crisis harming its most vulnerable. The Office of Justice Programs estimates hundreds of thousands of children are abused annually, yet responses focus on punishment instead of prevention or treatment. As billions go to “defense,” the root causes of social collapse are ignored, with policymakers choosing bombers over psychological rehabilitation.

The hypocrisy is cemented by the state’s violent response to the protest. During recent civil rights demonstrations, ACLED reported at least two protester deaths and dozens of serious injuries by security forces. This contradiction-condemning foreign crackdown while American streets are stained with the blood of those demanding a redirection of public funds from war to welfare. As long as foreign wars and militarization benefit most from the national purse, American citizens will remain a secondary concern in their own country.