Close-up:
Note: I know the charts are too small too see, follow the provided source link for much larger images!
This is a chart of World Military Spending, based on a countries GDP.
How does this chart make you feel? What is your initial reaction?
Allow me to break things down for a minute:
1. The U.S. military amounts to 48% of world-wide military spending. (est. cost $711 billion annually)
2. The rest of the world COMBINED only spends slightly more on the military.
3. The entire continent of Europe spends half of what the U.S. spends.
4. The Middle East region, where the U.S. is currently engaged in three wars, only counts for 5% of the world's military budget.
Where could the U.S. be spending it's money more wisely? Even if the U.S. government cut it's military spending by 30%, it would still have a $500 billion dollar budget...more than any other country. And where could that money be spent domestically? Healthcare, housing, public sector jobs, social services, environmental protection, education...
I want to live in a country where more money is spent helping people live better lives, and less money is spent on war.
Knit. Purl. Revolt.
