I see this talking point all the time and I have no idea why anyone would think it matters at all.
Country A has a population of 200 million people and each one has X tax dollars going to the military. Country B, which is directly threatened by Country A, only has a 20 million people and each spends 2X dollars on the military. That means Country B’s spending per capita is twice that of Country A’s, but Country A’s military spending is five times that of Country B. Obviously, Country A is more deserving of criticism for building up a five times larger military with no legitimate threat, while Country B’s spending is more reasonable, and might even need to be higher, despite the fact that it’s already twice as high per capita. Per capita is almost entirely irrelevant in the discussion.
Not per capita
I see this talking point all the time and I have no idea why anyone would think it matters at all.
Country A has a population of 200 million people and each one has X tax dollars going to the military. Country B, which is directly threatened by Country A, only has a 20 million people and each spends 2X dollars on the military. That means Country B’s spending per capita is twice that of Country A’s, but Country A’s military spending is five times that of Country B. Obviously, Country A is more deserving of criticism for building up a five times larger military with no legitimate threat, while Country B’s spending is more reasonable, and might even need to be higher, despite the fact that it’s already twice as high per capita. Per capita is almost entirely irrelevant in the discussion.