2009+World+History+Final+Project+D+Patrick

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 =**Is the world spending too much money on military expenses?** = 

 == How much is a Trillion dollars? ==


 Did you ever wonder how it is like to have a trillion dollars? Well, here's a visual representation of your idea.



 This was a rough, approximation of the amount of cash would be in your room if you had a trillion dollars in solid cash. Just the sheer amount of literal paper is astonishing. But, this is not even the amount of money that the world is spending on military expenses. The global world spending on military expenses is approximately 1.5 trillion, adding on approximately 200 billion, or 0.2 trillion per year. Sure, this number seems just huge, but, do you know how huge? Do you know the difference between a million, a billion, and a trillion? Other than the obvious fact that it is a TON of money, do you know how much it REALLY is? A trillion, is a MILLION millions. That is one, with 12 zeros that follow it. Also, remember that there is only approximately 1.7 dollars worth of actual paper money with dollar signs in the world. (M1 stats).

 


 Why would the world spend so much on the military? Is it because it's just plain expensive? Or is there some other reason? Well, it is very simple. You pay more for things that are of more worth. If something was just plain expensive, you would only spend as much as it's worth, nevertheless the price of it as a whole. Also, if it is just plain expensive, it means it's just plain valuable. So, why is the military so valuable for nations? Wasn't killing people bad? The biggest reason for this is that the military is THE easiest force you can dispatch to get what you want, directly and forcefully. So, in a nation's perspective, it is, in some way, the key to getting whatever you want. It is the POWER to literally force people to give what you want. It may seem unethical, but, that is what it can do. There are no laws, or any restrictions to an army. It can and will do whatever it wants to gain whatever the nation wants to gain. The only way to stop a military, is with another military, to see who's military dies out first.

You might say, how about negociation? Diplomatic reasoning? These ARE alternatives to military power, but, try negociating with thousands of men who all have guns pointed at your face. The fact is that the military is stronger. It's like a lawyer who's being robbed stating the law to a criminal with a gun. The criminal doesn't care, he just takes what he wants, and, he might shoot the lawyer. So, the lawyer's gone, so, there is no opposing voice, so, the criminal is free to do whatever he wants. Diplomacy, and negociation, is just a concept that we modern humans have made up in order to cease fighting, but, a long time ago, whatever nation that had the biggest, and strongest army had the most power. That is why the military is still one of the most important aspects to a nation.


 1.5 Trillion dollars is a lot of money, but, what nation spends what? And, how much?



<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">So, this is why I will focus on the USA for an example in this rather global issue.

The US is spending over 750 Billion dollars annually on the Military. (What 12 Billion dollars can buy-NY Times article) Also, it has been recently found out that the US spends approximately 44% of all taxes that go into the government for the military, which is more than the funding for poverty, health care, and education combined. Watch the video below for some info on this issue.

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<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Also, this one too.

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<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">So, now, I hope you see the depth of the situation. <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Basic education for everyone (6 Billion), water sanitation (9 Billion), reproductive health for women (12 Billion), basic health and nutrition for all (13 Billion), is not even 1/20 of the global military spending, or, in this case about 1/10 of the annual budget for the millitary of the US. (Cosmoloan)

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<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">The Iraq war is one of the most widely known wars of the 21st Century. It is the US vs Iraq. About 8 years have passed since it first began. But, do you know how much money was spent? Over a trillion dollars and counting. It is actually more likely than not, that the US will spend over 2 trillion dollars on this war. Look at the chart below. <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">(Casualties in Iraq)
 * || <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;"> Event ||< <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; display: block; text-align: center;">**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Date ** ||
 * < <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">**American Deaths** ||< <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;"> ||< <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;"> ||
 * < <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Since war began (3/19/03): ||< <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">**4,302** ||< <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">**3,450** ||
 * < <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; display: block; text-align: left;">Since "Mission Accomplished" (5/1/03) ||< <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">**4,163** ||< <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">**3,342** ||
 * < <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Since Capture of Saddam (12/13/03): ||< <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">**3,841** ||< <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">**3,144** ||
 * < <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Since Handover (6/29/04): ||< <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">**3,443** ||< <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">**2,817** ||
 * < <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Since Obama Inauguration (1/20/09): ||< <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">**74** ||< <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">**15** ||
 * < <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">**American Wounded** ||< <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">**Official** ||< <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">**Estimated** ||
 * < <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Total Wounded: ||< <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">**31,285** ||< <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">**Over 100,000** ||

At least 30 thousand people died. On the US side. Only. Not counting the many civilians and Iraqui forces that have died. There is the cost of human lives. Never forget that. But, also remember how much WW2 had cost for all nations involved.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">(MWH Text Book)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Nation || <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Total Spent ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">United States || <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">288.0 Billion ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Great Britain || <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">117.0 Billion ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">France || <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">117.3 Billion ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">USSR || <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">93.0 Billion ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Germany || <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">212.3 Billion ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Japan || <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">41.3 Billion ||

That is about... 868.9 Billion dollars, in 1994 dollars. Even when changed to 2009 dollars, it is NOT one trillion dollars. This is ALL the superpowers of the entire world attacking each other, while the Iraq war is just one nation attacking another nation. This is why the Iraq war, COULD later be known as one of the most expensive wars of all time.

<span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255); background-color: rgb(0, 0, 128); font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;"> =<span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255); background-color: rgb(0, 0, 128); font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;"> What the world could have done instead =

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">First, to start off, let me give you some more random examples of what you can do with a trillion dollars.<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">

- A trillion dollars is enough money to spend a million dollars per day, till the year 4743, or had to be spent since the time Homer wrote the Iliad. (Iraq: A Shocking Waste of Money) =<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;"> = <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255); background-color: rgb(0, 0, 128); font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">- Pave the entire US interstate highway system with 23.5 karat gold. (Huffington Post) - Buy 3077 Air Force One airplanes, the US presidential plane, worth 325 million dollars. (Huffington Post) - Buy all the sports clubs in the world, with about $5 worth of your money, if you had a net worth of 60 Grand. (Cosmoloan)

I bet that was pretty cool to think about. But, you can spend this money on other things to drastically improve human life.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">- Fix the future of Social Security: If $1 trillion was invested, and got a 9 percent return, the total to be dispensed each year would be $90 billion; divide that by the 4,242,000 babies born each year, giving each baby a starter account of $21,216.41 at birth, which is left untouched, growing with the child up until retirement. (Knox News) - Pay for all students going to college, and have more than 3/4 left over. (Huffington Post) - UN's entire budget it about 1.5% of global military spending. At least double it, so that it might not seem like a failure anymore. (Iraq: A Shocking Waste of Money) - Cancer research is only funded by 100 million dollars per year, what would happen if the world just saved 1/1000's of the global military spending, and increasing cancer research funding by ten times? Or even a hundred times? (Cosmoloan) - You can buy a million high-tech Asimo robots. (Cosmoloan)

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<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">This is just for you to finish reading this page with a good feeling, so, imagine having a million of these awesome robots. Now that's a very happy thought.

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<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;"> - Beck, Roger B.. __Modern World History: Patterns of Interaction__. United States of America: Mcdougal Littell, 2006.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;"> ===<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;"> <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255); background-color: rgb(0, 0, 128); font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Book: <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;"> ===

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<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;"> - __Handbook of the Sociology of the Military (Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research)__. New York: Springer, 2006.

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<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; color: rgb(255, 255, 255); background-color: rgb(0, 0, 128);"> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">- "Cosmoloan » What Can You Buy With A Trillion Dollars?." __Cosmoloan__. 27 May 2009 <http://www.cosmoloan.com/money-management/what-can-you-buy-with-a-trillion-dollars.html>. - Shah, Anup. "World Military Spending on Global Issues." __Global Issues : social, political, economic and environmental issues that affect us all on Global Issues__. 27 May 2009 <http://www.globalissues.org/article/75/world-military-spending>. - LEONHARDT, DAVID. "What $1.2 Trillion Can Buy - NYTimes.com." __The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia__. 27 May 2009 <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/17/business/17leonhardt.html>.

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===<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;"> <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255); background-color: rgb(0, 0, 128); font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Primary Source: <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;"> ===

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<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;"> - "Five Things You Can Do with One Trillion Dollars." __Bukisa - Share your Knowledge, Earn Money__. 27 May 2009 <http://www.bukisa.com/articles/11471_five-things-you-can-do-with-one-trillion-dollars>. - "THE LIST: WHAT A TRILLION DOLLARS WILL BUY." __Alternative News Media - Breaking Underground News__. 27 May 2009 <http://rinf.com/alt-news/contributions/the-list-what-a-trillion-dollars-will-buy/4651/>. - "What We Could Have Spent The Iraq War Funding On." __Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post__. 27 May 2009 <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/27/what-we-could-have-spent_n_138410.html>. - "Hughs: Nation could have used money spent on Iraq war : Columnists : Knoxville News Sentinel." __knoxnews.com : Knoxville, Tennessee, News, Business, Homes, Jobs, Cars & Information__. 27 May 2009 <http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/feb/13/hughs-nation-could-have-used-money-spent-iraq-war/>. - "Iraq: A Shocking Waste of Money | War on Iraq | AlterNet." __Home | AlterNet__. 27 May 2009 <http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/38013/?comments=view&cID=144566&pID=144497>. - "Casualties in Iraq - 2009." __Antiwar.com__. 27 May 2009 <http://www.antiwar.com/casualties/>.

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<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">- "YouTube - Asimo_Commercial." __YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.__. 27 May 2009 <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFgXEkzMq7A>. - "YouTube - CNN: How to Spend The Money - Military's Stimulus Dilemma." __YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.__. 27 May 2009 <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YhJUvUUqDg>. - "YouTube - US continues to pump money into war." __YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.__. 27 May 2009 <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_4DoY29NIg>.<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;"> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">