Your government has announced that it wishes to build a military base near your community. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this new influence on your community. Do you support or oppose the military base? Explain your position.

People in a society want to be protected and feel safe so that they will have a feeling of security in their own neighborhoods. Additionally, because they want to adequately provide for the needs of their families, people appreciate a thriving economy where unemployment is low and job pay is high. Upon construction, a military base could provide some of these things but at what price to the community? The advantages to building a military base near a community, according to some, might be an increase in jobs. Many soldiers will live at the base, and they will go to the city to buy clothes, food, and entertainment. An increase in spending from these soldiers could cause the owners of economic establishments to hire more employees due to all the increasing economic activity. For instance, in South Korea a new United States military base was built near a small rural city, and 8,700 soldiers began going to the town. As a result of all the new spending at a local grocery store, an owner had to hire 13 more employees to keep pace with all the new spending. This example proves why some believe a military base could increase employment. The disadvantages to constructing a military base could be an increase in crime and pollution. First, opponents of military bases point to Okinawa, Japan as an example. Sometimes, some of the soldiers go into the city to drink and party, and then a young girl gets raped and some fights happen. Many are hurt and lives are shattered because of crime caused by the soldiers from the military base. In addition, there could also be an increase in pollution since many military vehicles emit harmful fumes to the environment. Noise pollution could also be a problem since military bases often engage in “war games” by setting off explosions and shooting machine guns. In addition, helicopters, planes, and other aircraft will be taking off and landing at the military’s airport on a daily basis. Opponents argue that these aircraft will create additional noise to surrounding communities. All in all, however, I favor having a military base in my community for financial and respect reasons. Some day I hope to own a small business in my community, and I think a military base could bring me more money. For example, after I finish my MBA graduate studies, I am leaning toward building and operating a gas station, and a newly constructed military base would bring more customers to my business, which would help me to become profitable, thus helping me to increase my standard of living. Additionally, the construction of a military base could bring more respect to my town, especially since most of the residents where I live are patriotic and hold the government and the military in high esteem.