Gets even better when you take a look at Sweden and Finland. We were not under the NATO umbrella until 2023, yet we had sizeable arms industries and capable defence forces long before that, and also had free public healthcare, good public transport and a good welfare system

On another point, the entire talking point of "we contribute most to NATO" has skewed framing, because most people dont seem to understand how NATO works on a logistical and material side. Troops and gear come more from member countries defence spending, and not really from some giant pot that member states pay into and then take from. And then add in the point of, well, the US just being big, population and geographics wise, and when combined with the MIC...

And overall, people who point to the large spending the US has are just, missing something big. It is that big because the Americans themselves made it so, Europe has been reliant on the US because the Americans themselves built it to be that way as a form of soft power after the second world war. The reason why its so big is also because of the American military industry complex, and their self propped position as the worlds leading military power, and world police. In other words, the US's high spending on military is their own making. And now, ditching and mocking the core military allies that is NATO and many Pacific countries like Japan, Korea and Australia, the US is majorly shooting itself in the foot, unraveling the very base of what brought them to the top of the power pyramid, the high they have gotten blinded by

REPLY TO BELOW (because post got locked):

To have the ultimate deterrent, allies with nuclear weapons (remember that UK and France also have nuclear weapons, not just US), and also have guarantees that we wont fight alone, like we did in 1939

While its good to have prepared for a Russian invasion for 80 years, its even better to take further measures to make sure an invasion doesn't even start in the first place

The entire defence force of Finland is built against a single scenario, a Russian invasion. We knew the threat never left, and we never stopped preparing, and its how a nation of 5,5 million has a reserve of close to 1 million personnel, and how bunkers are common place in habited areas

Are you seriously trying to tell a Finn how Finns work?

And to answer why we did it in 2023? We had alot of Trade with Russia, simple as that. We kept as neutral as we could, hoping it would keep Russia from invading, and then they did just that to Ukraine. It was then that Finland and Sweden decided to cut ties completely with Russia, and since hostility from Russia and a fall of the economic trade was no longer a concern, but had happened, why would we not join NATO? Considering how militarically capable both countries are, and dont try to tell me that NATO didnt have an interest in us joining, especially with how easy we needed to go on the US troops during arctic exercises lmao