war, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Five minutes of war would pay for 10 Bill's Coffeeshops and provide
jobs for 10 individuals to work in them for a year.
Five minutes of war would buy a home for every one of the homeless
individuals my friend Kelly Dobson feeds each Sunday afternoon in Minneapolis.
Five minutes of war would finance a college education for Judy and at
least a dozen other people I know who don't have money for tuition,
Five minutes of war would support Altman, Sierra, Jeremy and at least
two dozen other fine young musicians I know for an entire year. Think
of how much music they could make to brighten our lives.
Five minutes of war would endow a Gisela Konopka chair in social group
work at the University of Minnesota and allow at least a dozen
graduate students to study group work.
Five minutes of war would help close the gap in school spending in a
major US city. In San Jose, Calif., for example, it could close the
$1,000 per child difference in spending between the Alum Rock schools
and neighboring districts.
For one hour of war, we could do all of these and more. Just think
what we could do with a day or a week.
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8 comments:
It is very sad and frustrating to think of the War in Iraq in these terms (although I guess it is both of those things no matter what terms you're thinking of it in). Although I knew that the billions of dollars we were spending on the war would be of better use in other areas to help our country, I had no idea it would take so little, as the Los Angeles Times said. If our country would only take a second to look at the troubles of those around us and what our country really needs, we could start to turn our country around. There is no reason that so many of our adults and children should be homeless and in such desperate need. If the U.S. is going to be in such tremendous debt, we could at least be in debt for something that really matters on our own soil.
It is insane to think that our country is spending 1 million dollars every 5 minutes to support the war in Iraq. I support our troops who are fighting in this war, but not the war itself. I keep on thinking what could be done in the US with that million dollars that is being spent every 5 minutes in the war against terrorism. An estimated 13 million children are living in poverty in the US. One million dollars could go a long way in helping children and families living on the streets to get off the streets and into homes, schools, and jobs. It could go towards our public schools who are desperatly trying to find money to keep the schools open. The money being spent on this war could go a long way in helping to reshape this country. If only our politians would realize...
I think the last line of sarahmj's comment is right on the money, "If only polititians would realize..." I think as a society we are overwhelmed when we hear of legislative issues...we doubt our own understanding of proposals and laws and are afraid to speak up. Polititians are paid by public money which means they work for us. They have a lot of power because we give them that power. If we are tired of money spent on war or tired of lack of funds to schools or tired of everything else we must not only say that we're tired, we need to shout it out! We feel that we don't have the power to make Rounds or Herseth of Johnson change their politics? We are who they need to listen to or they're out of a job! We (especially young women)need to not only vote but know what we're voting about. We need to keep politicians accountable. We need to make it clear to these polititians exactly what we want. $1million in five minutes?! And there are families in Sioux Falls that are waiting five years to get public housing funds? The federal government is getting that money from somewhere and nobody's letting them know that there are suffering people in Sioux Falls. I think our energy spent disappointment and outrage needs to be spent on education and organization so we can take a stand.
jessica
a million dollars in 5 minutes is hard to imagine. Some of us will never get close to that in a lifetime working our you know what's off. Some will benefit from war, it is the nature of war. Those at the bottom give their lives while those on top reap the spoils of war! Those on top have not a clue on how it feels to be homeles, or on welfare programs. Times are hard and those who make it hard are those who have the power. They say by the people for the people, but me I always wonder what people are they talking about?
B Kirk
One million dollars every five minutes? Wow. I knew the war was expensive but this essay really puts things into perspective. War itself is a terrible thing but when you think of how many people we could be helping with the money we are spending it's even worse. Or if we aren't helping people with that "war money", we could at least try to get our country out of debt. The current war is seriously such a mess right now because I can see both sides...kind of. Granted, I don't want war, however we can't just pull our troops out because that would show our enemies that we are weak and willing to back down...then what would happen? It's sad how common war has become now. Since the war is overseas, we aren't directly influenced by it on a daily basis.
One million dollars every five minutes? Wow. I knew the war was expensive but this essay really puts things into perspective. War itself is a terrible thing but when you think of how many people we could be helping with the money we are spending it's even worse. Or if we aren't helping people with that "war money", we could at least try to get our country out of debt. The current war is seriously such a mess right now because I can see both sides...kind of. Granted, I don't want war, however we can't just pull our troops out because that would show our enemies that we are weak and willing to back down...then what would happen? It's sad how common war has become now. Since the war is overseas, we aren't directly influenced by it on a daily basis.
- Sara A
With the Iraq war going on it is taking a lot of money. Money that we can use to help other people out. Especially ones that don't have homes, jobs, educationion, etc. Ending this war could make a huge difference in the world that we live in today. It would change everything drastically. People would be able to do things that they haven't done. They would be able to experience places that they never been before and so much more they can do. This war has put the U.S. in to debt very deeply. A million dollars in five minutes is way to much money to spend. Within that five minutes the world can be building new buildings for people to have jobs etc.... This is just way to much money that the Iraq war is putting the world through.
J. Cavanaugh
I think that the war in Iraq is really pointless. I don't think that our soldiers should over there getting killed when they have no right being over there in the first place. I think that the money should be used for far more better things than to pay for the war in Iraq...just letting our people die over there!!
~Kristi S.~
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