war is only way to be honest becouse war equipment costs a lot MONEY
I think most low end tanks that russia uses cost around $1.2 million.
Fighter jets are more expensive costing as much as $100 million each. They also have far higher maintenance and upkeep costs.
One interesting observation of the current ukraine war is russia deploying many old tanks and none of their air force. It appears to be a penny pinching war that Putin is currently waging. Maybe meme authors will illustrate images of Putin searching for lost pennies in the dark. While not great. It would be better than most attempts I've seen to attack russia.
Hypersonic missiles russia launched can also cost approximately $100 million each of which I think they launched only 3.
These being the basics, how can people focus on defense in this era? Most europeans cannot legally own guns to hone their marksmanship in case Putin invades. European nations which failed to develop viable 4th generation aircraft (eurofighter typhoon) are not likely to overturn those negative results within the span of a few short years.
The term "too big to fail" is thrown around often. If the economy tanks there are no protections or insulations which will protect big players from winding up far less wealthy, than they previously were. War does not create wealth. It is moreso a destroyer of it. Material assets, land, infrastructure are all destroyed. With liquidity spent in the destructive process not necessarily being equal to tangible net results produced.