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An Alternative: Grants, Not Guns?
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Walter Crompton
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Sep 24, 2001 22:14 PDT
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Let me take a moment to explore just one alternate approach for
dealing with this tragic situation. On one hand, we have the current
(and probable) solutions proposed by our leaders: an enormous buildup
of the inherently secretive and hawkish intelligence and military
communities; a war against one (or more) of the world's poorest
nations; and potentially devastating restrictions on our rights to
travel, assemble, speak, hold weapons, etc. What will be the cost of
this false security? I'll be conservative and assume that the bill
for just the material portions of these changes (lost productivity,
increased airport security, marshals on every flight, war materials,
deaths and injuries during the war, etc.) comes to $300,000,000,000
over the next ten years.
What else might we alternately do with that money, and with what
alternate consequences? Afghanistan is a country of 25,000,000
people, with a GDP of &$18,000,000,000, coming to a per capita income
of $700. Just for fun, lets throw in 5,000,000 Palestinians. The
total is now 30,000,000 people. Going back to my $300 billion
ten-year cost estimate, let's consider a scenario where we do
absolutely nothing stateside, and, instead, divert the money into
directly upgrading the lives of the Afghani and Palestinian nations.
That would be $10,000 per person - 14 times their current annual
income! Can you imagine how good you would feel about a country that
granted fourteen years of income to you? Surely such a display of
humanitarianism and forgiveness would ring in the ears of every
citizen of the world. It would turn these nations into permanent
friends, and create a dynamic that would improve the world for
generations. Clearly, it would diffuse the anger of these
downtrodden people, save countless lives, end their miserable
poverty, and allow us to walk away as genuine heroes. Talk about
creating peace!
What, dear friends, am I missing? Why is it that "Walter Nobody" can
put forward this thought, but professional academics, pundits and
politicians can't even entertain it? I stole the idea right out of
the Bible, and I'm not even a Christian. So where is the (allegedly)
Christian majority of this nation? I think I know the answers to
these questions, but will leave it for you to consider
independently...
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