Question: At the outset, please choose one question to answer and take a few sentences to craft a coherent, thoughtful response. Also, after you're done writing your individual response, and if you have time or are so disposed, please feel free to interact kindly but constructively with your fellow classmates. Our goal here is to replicate (as much as possible) a dynamic classroom atmosphere.

1: Do you think existing mechanisms for improving the U.S. military effectively prevent the creation of a "garrison state" here? Or do you think that cooperation between governments and business to expand the military - through something akin to a "military industrial complex" - is now corrosive of and inimical to human freedom? Please explain your reasoning.

2: Do you think the United States should currently spend more or less on its military? How would the government and citizens alike know if too much is being spent? And what factors should they consider when weighing this cost-benefit tradeoff?

3: Are you concerned about the fact that large (mega) corporations have the capacity to translate military technology - for which they are financially remunerated by the government - into consumer goods that generate enormous profit in domestic markets as well? Or is this recent development something to be applauded--effectively, a way to kill two birds with one stone? Do you think economic growth is practically synonymous with the continued expansion of human freedom? Why or why not?

4: Analyze military spending and growth through the lens of the so-called republican dilemma. Do you think this supposed trade-off between security and freedom gets a prominent hearing in domestic debates over military spending? Should it get a hearing? Why or why not?