NguDavid Swanson, World BEYOND War, UJuni 28, 2020
The past month’s activism has changed a great deal. One thing it’s helped with is brushing aside the tired old argument over whether government should be big or small. In its place we have the much more useful argument over whether government should prioritize force and punishment, or focus on services and assistance.
If we want local and state governments that provide experts in de-escalating conflict, professionals to assist those with drug addictions or mental illness, and skilled experts at handling traffic or responding to various sorts of emergencies, the funding is easily and logically fu maneka. It’s sitting in the oversized lwabiwo mali for armed policing and incarceration.
At the level of the federal government, an even bigger opportunity exists to move money from institutionalized deadly force to all variety of human and environmental needs. While police and prisons are a small pesenti of local and state spending, the U.S. government is expected to Kuchitha, kuyo Uhlahlo-lwabiwo mali olunokuvela in 2021, $740 billion on the military and $660 billion on absolutely everything else: environmental protections, energy, education, transportation, diplomacy, housing, agriculture, science, disease pandemics, parks, foreign (non-weapons) aid, etc.
No other nation uchitha even half what the United States does on militarism. Russia spends less than 9 percent and Iran a bit over 1 percent (comparing 2019 budgets). China’s military budget is roughly on the scale of U.S. police and prison spending — nothing like U.S. military spending.
Umkhosi waseMelika imali has soared during the past 20 years, and the wars it has generated have proved ukuvelisa ngokuvelisa and extremely difficult to end. This focus seems to have done very little to protect anyone from COVID-19, from environmental disaster, from the ingozi of nuclear disaster, from unsafe workplaces, from all the suffering inflicted by poverty, or from the lack of comprehensive healthcare.
In both houses of Congress right now amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act are gathering support that would reduce next year’s $740 billion budget for militarism by 10 percent for the purpose of redirecting those funds to wiser purposes. Moving $74 billion would result in a budget of $666 billion for militarism and $734 billion for everything else.
Where could the money come from, specifically? Well, the Pentagon is the one department that has ayikaze idlule an audit, but we do have some idea of apho some of the money goes. For example, simply ending the war on Afghanistan that candidate Donald Trump promised to end four years ago would ugcine a large percentage of that $74 billion. Or you could ugcine phantse i-69 yeebhiliyoni zeerandi ngokushenxisa ingxowa-mali ye-off-the-books slush eyaziwa ngokuba yi-akhawunti ye-Overseas Contingency Operations (kuba igama elithi “iimfazwe” alikhange livavanye ngokwamaqela ekugxilwe kuwo).
Kukho $ 150 billion per year in overseas bases, many of them bitterly resented, some of them propping up brutal dictatorships. For that matter there’s the military training and funding of oppressive foreign militaries by the U.S. government. There’s also such out-of-control weapons buying that unwanted weapons are kuthunyelwe onto local police departments.
Yayiza kuya phi imali? Inokuba nefuthe elikhulu eUnited States okanye kwihlabathi. Ngokutsho kwe-US Census Bureau, ukusukela ngo-2016, kuya kuthatha i-69.4 yeebhiliyoni zeedola ngonyaka. ukuphakamisa zonke iintsapho zase-US ezinabantwana ukuya kumgca wentlupheko. Ngokutsho kweZizwe Ezimanyeneyo, iidola ezingama-30 ezigidi zeerandi ngonyaka zinokubakho isiphelo emhlabeni, yaye malunga ne-11 lamawaka ezigidi zeerandi Kunika ihlabathi, kuquka iUnited States, elinamanzi acocekileyo okusela.
Does knowing those figures, even if they’re slightly or wildly off, throw any doubt on the idea that spending $740 billion on weapons and troops is a security measure? Some 95% of suicide terrorist attacks are lathiswe ngokuchasene nemisebenzi yemikhosi yangaphandle, ngelixa i-0% ikhuthazwa ngumsindo malunga nokubonelela ngokutya okanye amanzi acocekileyo. Ngaba mhlawumbi kukho izinto ilizwe elinokuzenza ukuze lizikhusele ezingaquki izixhobo?
Moving money from militarism to other investments can be economically luncedo, and certainly all necessary steps to assist people in the transition would indleko a small fraction of the money involved.
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David Swanson is an author, speaker, Executive Director of World BEYOND War, and Campaign Coordinator of RootsAction.org.
