This appears to be a terrible interface put on top of a very simple table.
Why am I scrolling around on my phone just to see the map? What are the underlying numbers? What do they mean? Is the actual number I’m looking at the area of the circle or the radius?
I don't see what you see. For all its faults, this page seems to present the data without moral judgment (or anything of use, frankly). Maybe it means America is a powerhouse of arms production. No reason to jump to conclusions.
Without moral judgement? Jump to conclusions? The favicon and main graphic shows a bomb with a cross through it. The actual domain is a pointed question designed to assign blame. The graphic is intentionally misleading (as others pointed out), hiding the raw numbers and showing them as the radius size instead of area, drastically inflating the apparent size. The quote at the bottom is from 1984 - a book about a dystopian government.
It looks to me like that was done to make the differences more visible. Otherwise, you wouldn't be able to perceive at all some of the more subtle differences among countries. I still think you're grasping at justifications for an initial assumption that wasn't really supported by the page. I think that even more because I'm inclined to the same point of view you are, but didn't get that impression at all from the bare-bones visualization shared.
EDIT: Never mind, I didn't see the opening animation or the header and footer, because I opened it in another tab and didn't realize you could scroll the page. You're completely right and I'm an idiot.
You mean like the logos for Ace Hardware, Coca-Cola, Adobe, and Red Robin? I still don't see it. I think the assumption is made because the viewer projects their moral discomfort with arms distribution onto the objective page.
The page is intended to project a certain aura. The dramatic fade-in, the crossed-out weapon, and text in all caps were chosen for a specific reason. You can't possibly pretend it's impartial. The source data, a table, is presented impartially.
Oh my goodness, that header! I opened it in another tab and didn't see the initial animation or the huge, idiotic header. No wonder everyone is downvoting me! All I saw was the map, and the rightmost scrollbar was off the screen, so I missed the crap at the bottom too. Apparently I don't know how to use a web browser this morning!
Why am I scrolling around on my phone just to see the map? What are the underlying numbers? What do they mean? Is the actual number I’m looking at the area of the circle or the radius?