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Second Thought

Second Thought

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What If We Spent The Iran War Budget On Literally Anything Else?

Video Overview & Insights

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Love this video, very eye opening.

I live in the UK and we’re pretty much screwed as well!

This has made me think about how America is portrayed in the Uk through media.

Most of my music and media is American and I love you guys for that.

But every time I hear “The USA the country of freedom”

I feel like somewhere along the line they forgot to mention that only applies to 0.1% of its citizens. 🙁

— @JordanGarth

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How The Iran War Budget Should Be Spent – Second Thought

We still be pissed about the budget. It’s just human nature.

— @LeosResearch

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New video every other Friday!

This messaging can be sold to many in MAGA. We strip the left vs right, we all know they are two sides of the same coin. It us vs the elite. You can explain a lot of this in a way that isn't combative. The biggest hurdle is the culture war bs they leverage as a distraction. I live in a deeply red state and debate my friends, neighbors and family around the broken system we live in constantly. Patience and a willingness to engage in discourse from an educated, fact driven empathetic perspective, has made many of them pause and think. Race, is and has been, a way to separate us, now its Dumocrats and MAGAts. Stop playing into this and engage with a goal in mind, nudge them to see the issues, get them nodding in agreement and be patient. Its hard at times, but even the toughest debates come with a plus, I am better prepared for the next one and heads nod in agreement more often. Just my 2 cents, which has been devalued to 1.9 cents while I typed this message up.

— @jessemorgan6665

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Citations and Further Reading:

Im a pharmd student watching this video from iran while having my lunch. On the healthcare front ive gotta say the US is cooked cause even ive got a massive insurance discount in a relatively poor country. So hearing people who cannot afford their insulin for like 600$ or whatever while the exact same drug is ten times cheaper in europe is really heartbraking.
I didnt really feel surprised by the war it was basically inevitable. There arent many countries in the world where the US hasnt bombed or sanctioned or tarrifed.

— @kooshyarqz

$11.3B/1st week

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/03/11/cost-of-us-iran-war/89082840007/

He has perfect beautiful ringlets in his hair. And baby blue eyes. Man how can we keep letting him get away with it? Jk JT is a comrade and I'm happy for his success because he is a great comrade and it means we are gaining momentum

— @ch4rl3magn38

$2B/day

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/06/iran-war-cost-congress-republicans-00816079

We got a bunch of stupid idiots in charge of our country.

— @jRex918

Bush/Iraq

https://www.npr.org/2003/04/17/1235528/government-puts-war-price-tag-at-40-billion

"What gives us the right to fuck with other people? We're christians and they're not! Jesus said you can fuck with as many other groups of people as you want!"

— @van-hieuvo8208

https://newrepublic.com/article/208007/iran-forever-war-trump-200-billion#:~:text=In%20the%20final%20year%20of%20President%20George%20W.%20Bush%E2%80%99s%20second%20term%2C%20his%20administration%20asked%20Congress%20for%20%24190%20billion%20to%20continue%20funding%20the%20wars%20in%20Iraq%20and%20Afghanistan%20that%20had%20long%20since%20turned%20into%20quagmires

$14T

Off topic but I'd still love an answer😊

I'm someone who is really interested in Communism, so I try to learn as much as I can and your videos have been a great help, but I was curious what your response is to Jessie Gender's critiques of Communism.
I thought it was interesting because I've following her for a long time now, and she isn't some right wing Capitalist.
She's a radical leftist as well who fights for the goals of Communism, but was recently critiquing it. More specifically they were critiquing a video of yours.
I'd love to hear your response.


This is the video in question, and the specific moment that they bring you up is the third part if their video titled, "Leftism of Fools."

https://youtu.be/2BO9YzCacWE?is=UogZvRT6If0KQJij

— @masontalarico7090

https://costsofwar.watson.brown.edu/paper/profits-war-corporate-beneficiaries-post-911-pentagon-spending-surge

$8T

Money Money MONEY, Money. War is not for the people, war is for the Elites. Always has in the Petro-dollar System. War fills the elites pockets and thus they have the power to control the system. The people are their tools that they control. Your wants and needs are of no concern to them. Money and power is all that matters to them.

— @josephbrown3476

https://www.brown.edu/news/2021-09-01/costsofwar

Billionaires

As an Iranian, I say this: We have no problem with the Americans, we are even willing to make deals with them. But if they want to take over my country, we will definitely fight them.

— @anonymous1945-h1x

https://www.bloomberg.com/billionaires/

“Between 30% and half of the 14 trillion went straight to just five companies”

Danke!

— @Ladoc-HH22145

https://costsofwar.watson.brown.edu/paper/profits-war-corporate-beneficiaries-post-911-pentagon-spending-surge

Extra $1T in interest

And they wonder why we all support Luigi.

— @Qadox

https://costsofwar.watson.brown.edu/costs/economic/us-federal-budget

⅓ of Americans skipping meals to afford healthcare

6:25 That statement is false. The United States is unusual among wealthy countries because it has a very large problem with medical debt, but it is not the only country where people can end up owing money for healthcare.

— @thetntteam

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2026/03/12/americans-cut-costs-health-care/

Universal healthcare costs

5:20 where are you getting this number? most credible analyses place the federal cost for universal healthcare in the range of $1.5 trillion to $3.0 trillion per year by 2030

— @thetntteam

https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2020-12/56811-Single-Payer.pdf#page=121

https://www.peoplespolicyproject.org/2020/12/11/cbo-medicare-for-all-reduces-health-spending/

if the defense budget is $1 trillion, a 3–5% haircut ($30–50 billion/year) would likely be enough to fund a credible human Mars program while still leaving about $950–970 billion for defense. that would trickle down into tons of new technologies invented for the mars program along with tons of jobs needed for NASA and for the inevitable new industries that will be created.

— @thetntteam

$1.5T/year defense budget

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/07/trump-calls-record-defense-budget-00715298

If I could afford to help you I most definitely would out of fear at the moment I do not have a job at the moment but when I do I'll help you sir

— @Secularwonderdragon

Defense budget compared

https://www.businessinsider.com/biggest-military-budgets-countries-ranked

World war 2 and the civil war were the only wars worth fighting in American history. Stopping genocide and slavery is a good cause, but now the government is in the position of Germany…

— @Rakoshi-1

Medical debt

https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/brief/the-burden-of-medical-debt-in-the-united-states/

THESE VIDEOS NEED TO GO VIRAL - I don't think most people have a clue ...

— @PASSOVERWITHTHELORD

High Speed Rail

https://www.amtrak.com/amtrak-facts

+ the 300 billion dollars Israel and the US have to give us for reperations. Your government isn't giving you Americans enough attention...

— @Iran_1390

https://www.ft.com/content/3f731e87-bc4b-426c-a97c-67e1ad50831d?syn-25a6b1a6=1

Head Start

What if you spent it on BURGERS instead of war? Huh? Think about THAT, Americans

— @kongspeaks4778

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/03/11/cost-of-us-iran-war/89082840007/

Cancer research

"Why don't presidents fight the war?
Why do they always send the poor?"

"Drug money is used to rig elections and train brutal corporate-sponsored dictators around the world!"

"Utilizing drugs to pay for secret wars around the world."

SOAD 🎵🎵
---

"They went after King when he spoke out on Vietnam.
He gave the power to the have nots, and then came the shot."

RATM 🎵🎵
---

"Lower pay and higher rent's another kind of violence, the violence of silence and greed."

"You can fight a war with drones
You can fight a war with loans
You can fight a war with gas or cans of paint
But don't you realize that the game's compromised
If you think that this is something that it ain't?"

"It's a verb! It's a verb!
Freedom is a verb
Something never finished, never done
It's something you can fake
And it's something that'll break
If it ain't something that you constantly become!"

Daniel Kahn & The Painted Bird 🎵🎵

— @ncedwards1234

https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/news/majority/congress-approves-fy-2026-labor-hhs-education-appropriations-bill

Homelessness

It should be mandatory for politicans to be on the front line if they decide to start a war.

— @sl1ck64

https://endhomelessness.org/resources/research-and-analysis/how-much-would-it-cost-to-provide-housing-first-to-all-households-staying-in-homeless-shelters/

Free higher ed

Well, what about we gave another tax break to ai-tech wall Street billioners?

— @iwso6585

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/oct/22/bernie-sanders-free-public-college-tuition-higher-education

World hunger

USA is cooked

— @briangrieco6287

https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/11/1166397

25x missing from Pentagon balance sheets

Can't hype video?

— @briangrieco6287

https://norman.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=1987

$2.5B & 700 lobbyists

naah get with the program buddy, the US needs those dollars to make sure everybody hates each other. Polarization means profits after all

— @javagarkanawathipillai5776

https://costsofwar.watson.brown.edu/paper/profits-war-corporate-beneficiaries-post-911-pentagon-spending-surge

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America = welfare for the rich that don't even need it to survive. I agree that this shouldn't be a partisan thing and you must be pretty blind or stupid to not see it. You guys already have the biggest army, doubling it's budget is just insanity.

— @MrDJdo

About Second Thought:

Second Thought is a channel devoted to education and analysis of current events from a socialist perspective. Welcome!

What a crazy idea :). Naaa lets keep killing each other and make the rich richer killing the poor.

— @classic8529

Business Email: secondthoughtchannel@gmail.com

For individuals or small businesses looking for one-on-one production training, I offer hourly consulting services as well. Send inquiries to jtchapmanchannel@gmail.com

Why do people flock to US hospitals when they need serious healthcare? Oh it’s because the private market is better than government anything. And what makes you think the government won’t reject your claims? And what about the third party payer problem where government money only serves to dramatically increase the price and reduce the quality of healthcare? Yes we should save money on defense. That’s not a valid argument for socializing our healthcare systems. In fact, you inadvertently made the OPPOSITE point. “Government can’t be trusted to spend wisely in defense, so let’s trust them with our healthcare”???

— @mjdutsar

More User Perspectives

@

It costs 400 thousand dollars to fire this weapon for 12 seconds

@Jigme-v7u
@

your math is wrong. healthcare for 20 years is around 5-6 trillion.
your showing the grid of 1 year vs 20 years in war.

still. money wasted.

@carlosrodriguez3104
@

Dog hair? The hell you talking about dog hair?

@OpiiCat
@

I dislike how everyone forgot the much more expensive, trillion+ dollar war on terror in Iraq/Afghanistan. All mideast engagements of this century should be lumped together

@Elecat1996
@

Power to the younger generation x

@Mr3c2b1a
@

Where are the liberals saying "oh public education is so expensive" when it comes to war which is far more expensive and also DEADLY than any public service?

@sirius2855
@

For Americans who have never travel abroad, many of the so called third world countries have better infrastructure than the u.s😂

@Alexdeeppurpledann
@

WE COULD PAY OFF STUDENT DEBT

@Altrinax-Haspin
@

Waste of money, Waste of time, Waste of life... The hell is wong with this politician

@FarelVlog1998
@

Its ok to poison food ordered by your local jews, politicians and billionaires.

@HunterMubin
@

now add 300 + more billion to that... wining !!!!

@CJBarto
@

give that money to Israel

@tafed3165
@

To be fair thats the terror war budget. Not the Iran war budget.

@aayanscreativelab1786
@

Universal Healthcare costs +-5 trillion a year not 290 billion. So therefore youe out by a factor of 15.

@JamesKennedy-g2w
@

I will be talking about God and Christianity, if you want to see please read more. Otherwise you do you.








We are in constant rebellion of God, but God loves us so much He sent His only Son to break us from our broken nature so we can live forever and not suffer from the consequences.

@Tristans-k1i
@

12:42 💯

@southern.hostility
@

China is just chilling waiting till they become the richest country

@Dan1234-i3t
@

Bro adding a timestamp on the ad is a legendary move. Mad respect. Very innovative.

@INEEDBABYPOWDER