{"id":7939,"date":"2025-04-11T10:29:32","date_gmt":"2025-04-11T15:29:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/?p=7939"},"modified":"2025-04-11T10:42:17","modified_gmt":"2025-04-11T15:42:17","slug":"a-trillion-for-war-invest-in-people-not-provocation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/a-trillion-for-war-invest-in-people-not-provocation\/","title":{"rendered":"A Trillion for War? Invest in People, Not Provocation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"\">This week, former President Donald Trump unveiled his plan to approve a <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2025\/04\/08\/trump-promises-1-trillion-in-defense-spending-for-next-year\/\" title=\"\">$1 trillion defense budget<\/a><\/strong> for fiscal year 2026\u2014the largest military budget in U.S. history. Framed as a path toward \u201cunmatched military strength,\u201d this proposal marks a nearly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2025\/04\/08\/trump-promises-1-trillion-in-defense-spending-for-next-year\/\" title=\"\"><strong>12% increase<\/strong> <\/a>from current defense and war spending levels. At a press event with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump declared, \u201cNobody has seen anything like it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">He\u2019s right. No one <em>has<\/em> seen anything like it\u2014and that\u2019s exactly the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">At the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/\" title=\"\">Peace Economy Project<\/a><\/strong>, we believe the true measure of a nation\u2019s strength is not in its stockpile of missiles, but in the well-being of its people. A trillion-dollar defense budget sends a loud, dangerous message: that endless military buildup is more important than affordable housing, accessible healthcare, climate resilience, or quality education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Let\u2019s be clear: this proposed budget doesn\u2019t protect us. It robs us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The Real Cost of a Trillion-Dollar Military<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">With $1 trillion, the government could fund:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/budgetmodel.wharton.upenn.edu\/issues\/2022\/6\/2\/total-cost-of-universal-pre-k#:~:text=We%20estimate%20that%20nationwide%20universal,over%20the%20first%20two%20years.\" title=\"\">Universal pre-K<\/a><\/strong> for every child in the U.S. for over a decade<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/breakingground.org\/news-events\/seizing-the-opportunity-to-create-new-affordable-housing-at-reduced-cost\" title=\"\">Affordable housing<\/a><\/strong> for hundreds of thousands of families<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kff.org\/medicaid\/issue-brief\/10-things-to-know-about-medicaid\/\" title=\"Comprehensive healthcare coverage\">Comprehensive healthcare coverage<\/a><\/strong> for millions<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/educationdata.org\/how-much-would-free-college-cost#:~:text=A%20First%2DDollar%20Tuition%2DFree,billion%20in%20its%20first%20year.\" title=\"\">Debt-free community college<\/a><\/strong> for every student in need<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.un.org\/en\/climatechange\/raising-ambition\/renewable-energy\" title=\"\">Clean energy and infrastructure projects<\/a><\/strong> to address climate collapse<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Instead, this budget pours taxpayer money into military contractors\u2019 pockets, expanding surveillance systems, building more fighter jets, and upgrading missile stockpiles\u2014tools of destruction, not security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>War Is Not Peace. Militarization Is Not Justice.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/20190613_Military_CO2.jpg.webp?ssl=1\"><img  title=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"960\" height=\"684\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/20190613_Military_CO2.jpg.webp?fit=960%2C684&amp;ssl=1\"  alt=\"20190613_Military_CO2.jpg A Trillion for War? Invest in People, Not Provocation\"  class=\"wp-image-7941\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/20190613_Military_CO2.jpg.webp?w=960&amp;ssl=1 960w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/20190613_Military_CO2.jpg.webp?resize=300%2C214&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/20190613_Military_CO2.jpg.webp?resize=768%2C547&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">The Department of Defense is already the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/climate-change\/pete-hegseth-us-military-climate-change-b2712283.html#:~:text=Democratic%20lawmakers%20wrote%20in%202021,percent%20of%20federal%20energy%20use.%E2%80%9D\" title=\"\">world\u2019s largest institutional polluter<\/a><\/strong> and consumes more fossil fuels than most industrialized nations. Expanding its budget to historic levels will only deepen the climate crisis and escalate global tensions. Meanwhile, communities at home continue to suffer from underfunded public health systems, crumbling infrastructure, and rising inequality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Trump\u2019s proposal is not just fiscally irresponsible\u2014it\u2019s morally bankrupt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What Security Really Looks Like<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">At PEP, we advocate for <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/?p=7629\" title=\"\">true national security<\/a><\/strong>, which means:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">\u2022 Clean water and safe neighborhoods<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">\u2022 Economic equity and housing stability<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">\u2022 Investment in mental and physical healthcare<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">\u2022 A livable climate for future generations<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">\u2022 Global diplomacy over global domination<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">We don\u2019t need more missiles. We need <strong>more meals, more teachers, more nurses, and more justice<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>A Call to Action<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">This isn\u2019t just about budgets\u2014it\u2019s about priorities. And the American people deserve better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">We urge elected officials, community leaders, and everyday citizens to speak out against this dangerous expansion of military spending. We must demand a federal budget that reflects our shared values\u2014not fear and force, but care and cooperation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">\ud83d\udcac <strong>Raise your voice. Share this article. Start conversations.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">\ud83d\udd8a\ufe0f <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/chng.it\/SZJRjNNVpS\" title=\"\">Sign our petition<\/a> to Move the Money from war to human needs.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">\ud83d\udce2 <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/?page_id=39\" title=\"\">Join us in building a peace economy<\/a>\u2014because a better world is possible.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><em><a href=\"https:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/\" title=\"\">Peace Economy Project<\/a> is a St. Louis-based organization that educates the public and lawmakers about the dangers of runaway military spending and advocates for the redirection of federal funds toward social programs and community wellbeing.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">\ud83d\udccd <a href=\"http:\/\/www.peaceeconomyproject.org\">www.peaceeconomyproject.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">#MoveTheMoney #PeaceEconomy #FundCommunitiesNotWar #TrillionForPeople #NotForWar<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trump\u2019s $1T defense budget fuels war, not wellness. Imagine if that money funded housing, healthcare, and hope instead of missiles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7940,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/pexels-photo-7947758-e1772046180898.jpeg?fit=1194%2C1153&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7939"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7939\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7944,"href":"https:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7939\/revisions\/7944"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peaceeconomyproject.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}