A budget is a numerical way to express what we value. The U.S.’s federal budget extravagantly funds military violence and fails to support human needs. This is morally wrong. It also makes our nation weak. Sure, the Pentagon has plenty of weapons. But our people are suffering badly from poor housing, poor health, polluted communities, and so forth.
We need to cut the military budget and use the savings to fully fund human needs. The U.S. has WASTED TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS making war against people in other countries while making the American people suffer also from neglect.
In 2011 and 2012 the Western Washington Fellowship of Reconciliation worked on a “Bring Our Billion$ Home” campaign to push for humane priorities for the federal budget. The Olympia FOR worked hard on this, and some BOBH activities happened in Seattle and elsewhere. But not enough people did enough outreach and organizing. Also, by focusing on urging Congress to do the right thing, the campaign did not succeed, and we did not do enough grassroots organizing or recruit enough allies to change public opinion.
The need still exists. Some resources are posted on this blog’s “Military Spending” area. You will also see some relevant materials at the “Bring Our Billions HOME” part of www.olympiafor.org
A number of nationwide organizations and information resources exist with this focus, and we urge people to work with them.