Welcome to this week's #EcoTrain Question of the Week

If 50% of the defense budgets of the 10 biggest nations was given to philanthropic causes, would we see more or less war and violence in the world?

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First Let's Take a Look at the Numbers

10 Biggest Nations in the World & Their Defense Budgets

source: wikipedia from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute

Put another way in a graph, we can easily see that the United States and China make up nearly half of the military spending for the entire world:

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Breaking this down another way, let us see the spending next to the number of people in these countries.

United States: 611.2 billion for 322,762,018 people

People's Republic of China: 215.7 billion for 1.379 billion people

Russia: 69.2 billion for 143,964,709 people

Saudi Arabia: 63.7 billion for 33,554,343 people

India: 55.9 billion for 1.324 billion people

France: 55.7 billion for 66.9 million people

United Kingdom: 48.3 billion for 65.64 million people

Japan: 46.1 billion for 127 million people

Germany: 41.1 billion for 82.67 million people

South Korea: 36.8 billion for 51.25 million people

(source: for population World Bank; statistics on military spending from link above.)

Total Spending: $ 1686 Billion for roughly 3.5 billion people!
That's $481.71 per person average for all of these countries

Now the question asks if 50% of the top 10 budgets were given to philanthropic causes, that equals roughly $240 per person in each of these countries.

$240

Personally I am incredibly angry, saddened and disgusted, though not surprised, that the US leads this list.

I think whatever money taken from war and given to "the desire to promote the welfare of others, expressed especially by the generous donation of money to good causes," which is the definition of philanthropy, it is a good thing.

Take all of the money for war and give it to causes to help people. Truly there is too much energy going to war and "defense" all around the country. I know it's not that simple, but I wish it were!

Would we see less war and violence in the world if we did this?

Honestly, I'm not really sure. Violence and war is a much bigger issue than military spending. It's a mindset and a cultural paradigm. People will kill each other with anything they have if the root of the issues aren't being touched on.

People must have a desire for peace and want to educate about peace, not just an absence of war.

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Peace Education

If we took the money away from war and put it toward Peace Education, perhaps then we would have a chance at less violence. If you took money away from war and put it toward remediating (some) the reasons which cause people to war (land fights, not enough food or safety in life, etc) there could be less war.

Tackling the Root Causes

But this still doesn't tackle the root causes of the biggest wars, like US invading places for oil, historical wars within nations that are never-ending, power-based wars, greedy politicians/corporations warring under the guise of something else or merciless dictators.

Government spending on "defense budgets" is as much of a corporate scheme (making multinational corporations money on the development of weapons) as it is a pissing match around the world.

We'll only see less war if the root causes are touched on and perhaps some of these philanthropic organizations would help that.

Furthermore the mindsets, world-views and paradigms within people and cultures that create breeding grounds for violent tendencies must be addressed. We cannot shift the habits of the people that make and allow war to continue simply by shifting the money spent by governing bodies. Rather it is a systemic issue that, as mentioned above, relates to Peace education, but also is also linked to mental and physical health, spiritual wellbeing, and feelings of belonging and unity.

These are not manufactured things, rather the results of many complex factors that create what we know as culture. Until these core and fundamental pieces of our "internal software" are reprogrammed away form a duality fear-based consciousness, there is no chance to shift the tides of violence.

Yes there would be less money wasted on fighter jets, but that's just the symptom of a much bigger ill.

Until the global population can't stop judging, isolating and oppressing those who are different, violence will exist in the many forms, ultimately leading to war.

Of course we would all love to see less money going to the war-associated raping, pillaging and killing, but it it not money that will get us out of this predicament (although it of of course helpful). War is part of our human experience that indeed causes much distress. But what can be done? I honestly don't know, but I will share a little of my (Ini) upbringing that highlights a religious organization that seems to be doing more good than harm.

As a caveat I am sharing this as an example, but am not suggesting the positive motions towards a peaceful world need be religiously based. As we've written about previously, there is much harm that has come in the name of religions, but felt this was an apt lived example.

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Connecting Through Beliefs and Values

I was raised in a modern Mennonite household and church. While my family was not overly religious, I did attend Sunday school and religiously affiliated school under grade 11.

The Mennonite faith has many branches, but I want to highlight what I saw as extremely positives outcomes from a non governmental organization that is making the world a better place. The main body that is making positive changes around the globe is known as Mennonite Central Committee. Ever heard of 10 000 Villages (one of the first major retailers in North America to introduce the concept of "fair trade" goods). They have made major advancements of commerce based on equality not exploitation.

Why am I bringing this up?

Because Churches and other religious groups contains a HUGE portion of the world's populations and hold incredible financial sway. They make decisions that can have wider reaching effects than governments.

There are 3 pillars of the Mennonite faith which I really appreciate and want to highlight:

1. Pacifism
2. Philanthropy
3. Avoiding attempts to convert others

The Mennonite faith holds firmly to a their stance as pacifists, not believing in war as acceptable behavior. My Grandfather was a conscientious objector (drafted but excluded from active war duty) and was instead sent to work camps. This is an example of the power of organizations. As a Mennonite one could state to the government who was sending men to war (at times against their will) that their faith did not allow this. What's more is that in addition to refusing violence, the faith also has a strong network that seeks to support others who may be less privileged.

While this was a bit of a deviation in the conversation on reducing military spending, it is a great reminder of what kind of movements can be created when a group holds to a core set of values. In this case peace, acceptance and unity. This is powerful and beautiful. While I don't consider my self religious, I maintain this integrity of beliefs.

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It is crucial that we address some of the more systemic factors that create a culture of war in the global society. Reducing military spending is one positive shift, but ultimately we as humans need to evolve to a point where war and violence are simply not an option.

What do you think?

This post was written by a passenger of the #ecotrain. Check the tag often for more inspiring material!