The United States has become a global empire. With the models of empires before us we have occupied over 130 countries with military bases.

There are two main reasons as to why this is wrong. First, the budget for such a thing is crippling our economic growth. Second, it is ideologically conflicting with the ideas that our country was built upon.

For our country to ever get back to its prominence that it was known for decades ago, we must put an end to this.

Mainstream ideas nowadays often call for the return of our troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, but this is only a very small fraction of the problem.

Our overall budget for fiscal year 2010 for military bases and “Overseas Contingency Operations” surpassed $700 billion. There is no way that our current-weak economy can sustain such a number, a number that is only getting bigger by the year.

Those in Washington, D.C., haven’t moved an inch on the issue, and until they do, recovery isn’t likely.

“The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible.”

These are the words of George Washington, just before he left the office of the presidency.

This is quite possibly the best advice our leaders in D.C. could get right now, a message from the past about the future.

The fact that we have bases in so many countries shows how far we’ve come ideologically since the birth of our nation.

We fought tyranny in 1775, tyranny that was dominating the majority of our planet, and our leaders’ main reason for war was the fact that we didn’t have any representation in the governing body across the Atlantic Ocean.

The thought that the people in all those nations our military occupies have had any say in that situation is just erroneous, and we must stand up against such a thing if we really have a love for our country.

Now, friendship with all nations should be at the forefront of our foreign policy, and complete economic globalization seems inevitable, so to completely turn our back on our nations would be a mistake. That is not what we are asking, we are asking for common sense; to stop this absurd spending on world occupation.

Let’s use those resources defending ourselves, instead of attacking nations and pushing our brute on weaker nations. Let’s use those resources to help those nations that aren’t worried about religious ideologies, but just how to somehow scrounge up their children’s next meal.

Or, if our leaders were really serious about fixing our economy, they should use some of that $700 billion on paying some of our national debt, that is closing in on $15 trillion.