Daily Iowan: $4,600 every second in war costs
Peter Gustin
Twelve billion dollars per month translates to $4,629.63 per second – the amount of money being spent on the war in Iraq.
At the same time, Iowa spends, on average, $8,360 per pupil in public schools, according to a U.S. Census Bureau study.
That’s approximately two seconds in Iraq.
“That’s about what I pay in federal taxes in a year, and for only two seconds in Iraq,” said Jane Bell, who came to Iowa City from Des Moines to attend a presentation at the Public Library, “American Power: Beyond the Department of Defense.”
“It makes you want to cry,” audience member Susan McGuire said.
James Ludes, the executive director of the American Security Project, deliverd the talk on Monday. He was a legislative assistant for defense and foreign policy with Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.
“It’s jaw-dropping,” Ludes said about the money spent on public education compared to the war. “Teachers should earn six-figure salaries.”
But the places where money is spent compared with the war was not the only a part of Ludes’ speech that surprised people.
Climate change as a security issue – rather than as ice melting in the sea – was another.
“Melting of sea ice doesn’t make me lose sleep at night,” he joked, adding that Al Gore did a better job speaking about the issue.
Climate change concerned Ludes because it threatens coastal cities, severity of storms, and the stability of already weak states, he said, adding that within the next 40 years, the American bread basket could be a dust bowl, while India could lose 50 percent of wheat-growing land.
This would lead to what he called, in the simplest of terms, mass hunger.
“The U.S. cannot fix this one; it’s going to require a global effort,” Ludes said.
As a part of this global effort, the United States must strengthen its ties with a wide range of countries.
Surveys done in May 2008 showed that 67 percent of Americans believe it would be beneficial for the president to meet with leaders of enemy nations, while 59 percent thought it would be beneficial to meet with the president of Iran.
However, when registered voters were polled about the most important issue leading up to the November elections, Iran earned 0 percent of the total, and global warming was given an asterisk – showing that somebody voted for it.
“We need to take a long, hard look into rebalancing our priorities,” Ludes said.
The speaker brought all of these problems together by expressing the need to further education in order to improve future outcomes.
“How we educate our kids will determine the next economical success,” he said.
But, when comparing apples to oranges, Jeff Cox, a UI history professor, said he thinks Iowa has one of the better public-education systems with an optimistic future.
“There are some that say we can’t get any more money from the state, but that’s not true,” he said. “There is reason for optimism in the next five to six years.”
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