Before World War II, America tried to keep to itself. The young country was trying to keep its head above water after decades of economic recessions off and on. After the two World Wars, America became the giver of Democracy. This idea of American democracy grew during the Cold War as America took the leading position of stopping the Communist Revolution falling over Western Europe funded by Russia. What is the United States of America now?

Since then most presidents have thought to leave a legacy of the reign and most was done through war. Harry S. Truman approved the dropping the h-bombs on Japan to end the Pacific Theatre. Eisenhower and Truman were in office during the Korean War. JFK had the Bay of Pigs and Cuban Missile Crisis. Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon had the Vietnam War. Gerald Ford was trying to pick up the pieces from a president who left the office in shame. Not to forget Ford was only Vice President at the time for Nixon because Spiro Agnew resigned from office after being caught for bribery. Jimmy Carter was still around for The Cold War and the Iran Hostage Crisis. Ronald Reagan started the War on Drugs in America. G. H. W. Bush gave the world the Gulf War. Clinton left behind the three strikes rule, which led to a higher incarceration rate. G. W. Bush has the War on Terror. Obama tried to rile back the U.S. involvement in the Middle East but it was advanced even more aerial. Trump’s reign still in question on what his legacy will be.

All of these wars or increase in policing are to make people feel safe, and the democracy that people know and love will always be there for us. Is that how democracy works? This increase has made more Americans xenophobic and created more racial profiling in the police force broader.

The American education system is in shambles teachers are underpaid and underappreciated. Health Care in the U.S.A. is seen a joke by most western countries and one of the highest profiting industries in America. This situation is only perpetuated by what seems to be a line of never-ending wars or internal battles to save democracy. Education and healthcare keep getting less and less funding from the federal government. For the underprivileged, it seems impossible to afford to pay for health insurance. Another effect from this crippling debt is some parents may seem to have to choose between sending their children to public school, where they live with the dread of their child being unsafe from a possibility of a school shooting. They might also have to worry if their child is learning anything in class as most school districts are understaffed and classrooms are over capacity. America has changed over time.

Colonial America had the time to figure out what was best for the country slowly. America today is forcing democracy on other countries, whether it is sending in soldiers to take down a dictator or influence elections in South America. Let us not forget that America today has territories that still do not have the right to vote or even representation in Congress or the Senate, like Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, United States Virgin Islands and Northern Mariana Island. Puerto Rico has been vocal about their climbing debt and their feeling of either breaking free from American rule or being accepted fully a being the United States Fifty-First state to the union.

Each territory has something to offer the land for military bases. What does this mean for America now?

America has turned into a nation-state with an inflated idea of its military power. The most known fact is the military takes on 54% of the federal budget just three years ago in 2015, according to Nation Priorities Project. There has not been any cut to the military budget after 1991. That is a massive budget. The American military budget for the military beats out sixteen other countries and all of those countries are its allies. Most of the money is going to improve what the country already has. This budget does not have much spending on military salaries, which are still very low even after a recent pay increase, or been used to improve the Veteran’s Affair System. America is not the leader in democracy anymore.

America is the nation that now depends on its military power to control the rest of the world around it. Where the value of a tank is far more critical than the minds of the youth, the health of the elderly and the legacy left behind from a former president. This type of thought process has made the United States of America the new Great Britain after the Fifteen Years War and the American Revolution. At this moment America has a bloated military, ever-growing debt, and people under its rule that are becoming so unhappy that an uprising of the people could happen. America is not the provider of Democracy, but a Military Monarchy.