Prior to World War II the United States had begun to take an isolationist stance towards global politics, which was a response to the loss of life in WWI and the devastating economic disaster known as the Great Depression.
This isolationist stance was bolstered by the fact that many Americans believed the U.S. was going to war solely for the financial benefit of bankers and arms manufacturers.
Nearly a hundred years later the argument for American isolationism has begun again, but what are the pros and cons of the U.S. adopting an isolationist policy?
It's clear that we'd save tons of money on our defense budget, which would give us the chance to handle many domestic issues which we never seem to have the budget for.
But at the same time we'd be more vulnerable to attacks due to a lack of international cooperation, and even though this policy would help us avoid war with China it could also lead to a Russian invasion of the Baltics if the U.S. withdrew from NATO.
There's simply not enough room to discuss this issue in full here, so you'll just have to read 10 Things That Would Happen If The US Became Isolationist at TopTenz and discover more pros and cons of this hot-button issue.
While we could certainly save tons of money from the defense budget, that likely will not translate to drastically increased expenditures for social services. Even at $600 billion, the federal government already spends more on Medicare and Medicaid than defense. It spends more on Social Security too. The money isn't there. They might be able to free up funds to keep Social Security solvent, but that's about it.