Military funding should be redirected toward health, education
In modern-day society, The United States of America is known
for its vast economic wealth, numerous freedoms and opportunities and strong
military. The military industrial complex — defined as an establishment within
a country that produces technology for the purposes of protection against
outside threats — has become a business of war profiting from governmental
interests. However, with such a large country holding many diverse peoples, it
is important that the money the U.S. government accrues from its citizens be
allocated — to a much greater degree — to areas of priority such as education
and healthcare, rather than to factors such as defense.
According to the New York Times, 10% of the money generated
from the nation’s factory output is used to produce weapons which are then sold
to the Department of Defense. A study from the
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found that the combination of
Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP and the ACA combined made up 26% of the nation’s
budget in 2017 while 15% went to defense and security. Education received only
3%.
America depends on war. According to Stebbins and Comen from
USA Today, the United States remains the “top arms-producing nation in the
world.” America profits greatly from the production of defense technology, and
in order for this to continue, spending within the country for such an industry
will proceed to grow. The military complex in the United States is a
combination of contractors, individuals or organizations that provide military
services, such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Raytheon, companies that reported
a combined profit of nearly $100 billion in 2017.
Terrorism can be a great threat to any country. However, the
Wilson Center found that the number of terrorist attacks in the Middle East and
North Africa actually decreased in 2018. The Center also reported that the
largest decline in terrorist attack fatalities has been in Iraq, which had 75%
fewer deaths, along with Syria, which saw a 40% decline. This goes to show that
terrorism is no longer the prime reason for the American government to remain
in such regions. It is very much apparent that what the nation is more
interested in is the monetary gain in selling militaristic machines to war-torn
countries. This in turn is not an action plan to combat terrorism, but in
actuality a play on greed which can put the lives of civilians in danger when
corrupt leaders in countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates
are sold military technology.
According to Our World in Data, when a terrorist attack
occurs, it receives significantly more media coverage if the perpetrator is
Muslim. Since the majority of wars waged by America itself have been centered
in the Middle East and profit comes from selling weapons to many leaders within
Islamic groups, it benefits the United States to continue to incite fear
amongst the people. This fear is then used to feed America’s greed for more
economic welfare. After all, per Al Jazeera, “75% of the fallen in these wars
come from working class families. They do not need war. They pay the cost of
the war.” Thus, the extent of our military and its industrial success has sacrificed
people to benefit the few. How much longer will we accept this?
Out of all of the surprising statistics of overspending for
war, the controversial truths and the horrendous profit on such a “business,”
the worst part of such an industry are stories that originate from the contract
companies within our country. USA Today reported that Lockheed Martin caused
the murder of innocent civilians in 2018 after a bomb the company sold to Saudi
Arabia was dropped on a school bus in Yemen, killing 51 children and adults.
From both an ethical and moral standpoint, why should we as humans allow our
country to partake in the massacre of civilians? Why should we allow our
country to allocate more of our hard-earned money, to a greater extent, to the
military supported by privatized companies rather than prioritizing our
education, health and infrastructure?
While all of this information may seem overwhelming or too
controversial, let it be known that, over 300,00 civilians have died and
another 21 million have been displaced due to violence according to CNBC. It is
our tax money that’s allowing such nonsense to occur and continue. Our country
is ruining the lives of not only our citizens, but also those of people in
other parts of the world for the greed of a small percentage of privately-owned
companies and people in Congress. Let this abomination end.