Global Priorities

[BrassFusion]

goods/ services, annual cost in billions

basic education for everyone in the world 6

cosmetics in the US 8

water and sanitation for everyone in the world 9

ice creme in europe 11

reproductive health for all women in the world 12

perfumes in europe and the US 12

basic health and nutrition for everyone in the world 13

pet food in europe and the US 17

business entertainment in japan 35

cigarettes in europe 50

alcoholic drinks in the world 105

narcotic drugs in the world 400

military spending in the world 780

note: items in italics represent estimates of what they would cost to achieve; this is because they dont exist.

if you ever hear a politician tell you that we need to decrease spending in education in order to promote military spending, you now know that they are lying. decreased spending in education, sanitation, or health is absolutely reasonless. perhaps if a few of those 780 billion dollars that are spent annually on the military were to be spent on education, people might become more informed about their government and their world. perhaps then the people of the world would begin to take the power away from their leaders; the ones who start wars. if this happened, then maybe one day all of the money that would be spent on the military would go to feeding and healing the people of the world, subsequently promoting peace, enlightenment, and the possibility of heaven on earth.

my source for this information came from the UN; the united nations (1998b: 37)

pass this on to your friends, parents, and everybody else.

LEE

[pomba gira]

Yup. There is plenty to go around (for now, anyway)... it just doesn't get divided up fairly. Maybe because we're still operating under the archaic assumption that one entity's gain can only come from another's loss.

Back in the '80s there was a consciousness-raising excercise where a group of people were given meals representing the way food resources are divided up in the world... so, one person would get a full gourmet meal, a couple people would get an average Western meal, most people would get, say, beans & tortillas, a lot of people would get a handful of rice, and some would get nothing. Then they would do it again, with a meal representing if resources were evenly divided. This time everyone got a substantial, nutritious meal... not a fancy gourmet spread but not subsistence rations by any means, either. Wish I could remember more details of how it worked... it really was an eye-opener for me back then.

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

Ever read the UN charter? You should go talk to them and ask them why they are not doing what they are sopposed to be doing.

[BrassFusion]

Ever read the UN charter? You should go talk to them and ask them why they are not doing what they are sopposed to be doing.

I hope it's not in their charter to actually steal the resources of the rich countries that spend too much on their militaries. That would be a little extreme, even for me.