A total of $3.9 trillion–that’s the cost to the U.S. taxpayer of nuclear weapons, according to a new study just released.
Here’s what we could have bought instead:
A $75,000 home-ownership grant and a $15,000 car to every family in California, Texas, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Montana and Wyoming.
After that we could have built a $30 million hospital, a $10 million library, a $10 million museum and completed $10 million worth of infrastructure repairs in each of the 750 largest communities in those 15 states. Then we could have placed a $10 million school in 1,500 communities. Putting aside the remaining money at 5 percent interest, we could have paid an annual salary of $25,000 to each of the 30,000 teachers. And, finally, we would still have enough left to provide every person in those states with a $2,000 annual cash allowance, not just for one year but forever.
What threat can possibly justify the continuation of such expenditures? Isn’t it time to speak out for a better use of our national resources? What better time than this year as we look back on 50 years of the nuclear threat and commemorate the 50th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
