1/ So I've seen this tweet a couple times in my timeline. So I thought I'd check the actual numbers. Spending (as a % GDP), from data.worldbank.org:
- defense = 2.1%
- education = 4.9%
- health = 9.9%
- R&D = 2.2%
- arts = <0.1%
- defense = 2.1%
- education = 4.9%
- health = 9.9%
- R&D = 2.2%
- arts = <0.1%
2/ Spending on war has collapsed over the past 80 years, so that comic is not as relevant today: 
3/ The World Bank numbers above take a bit of explaining. Defense and education were government spending, healthcare is both public/private spending, though it's still primarily government spending even in the United States.
4/ R&D is also from all sources in the above numbers. In the U.S., 0.8% is from government, but even that is split between military and non-military science:
5/ Those numbers were world wide averages, as those I saw retweet the comic were from Europe. U.S. spending on military is notoriously higher, but still, has declined over the years:
6/ Even in the United States, "government" spends more on either healthcare or education than it spends on the military, and it's notorious for spending not enough on the first two and too much on the third.
7/ I put "government" in quotes because healthcare/defense spending is by the federal government while education is by state and local governments. Federal spending on education is like 0.8% of GDP.
8/ Yes, governments don't spend money on the "arts", but then they probably shouldn't. 80 years ago, households struggled with basics like food and housing, so government was big contributor to arts. Now households can afford their own "entertainment":
9/ "Entertainment" is a complete substitute for "arts", especially when you include sports. But still, that people have enough discretionary spending these days to spend more on this than military is pretty cool.
