The following numbers show the global priority spending for the year 1998
Global Priority
|
$U.S. Billions
|
Military spending in the world
|
780
|
Narcotics drugs in the world
|
400
|
Alcoholic drinks in Europe
|
105
|
Cigarettes in Europe
|
50
|
Business entertainment in Japan
|
35
|
Pet foods in Europe and the United States
|
17
|
Perfumes in Europe and the United States
|
12
|
Ice cream in Europe
|
11
|
Cosmetics in the United States
|
8
|
This forms a total of 1 418 Billion US Dollars
Now have a look at the following table, which represents what was estimated as additional costs to achieve universal access to basic social services in all developing countries
Global Priority
|
$U.S. Billions
|
Basic health and nutrition
|
13
|
Reproductive health for all women
|
12
|
Water and sanitation for all
|
9
|
Basic education for all
|
6
|
With a total of 40 Billion US Dollars
Obviously -- we have got our priorities all mixed up. Even with just a simple point like eliminating Perfume and Cosmetics in the world -- we can already have the job halfway done to having everyone's basic needs met. If we eliminate military, drugs and alcohol -- we can pretty much assure that everyone's living standard is well above having basic needs met -- everyone would be living a life of worth - a life everyone would enjoy living.
I forgive myself that I haven't accepted and allowed myself to see and realise that failure to address basic living needs of the whole of the population living on Earth can only be a reflection of deliberate negligence of Life on Earth
I forgive myself that I haven't accepted and allowed myself to see and realise that the current state of the world and the manifestation of a majority living in misery is in fact a deliberate choice
I forgive myself that I haven't accepted and allowed myself to see beyond the Veil of apparent 'goodness' within human beings and see the abusive monstrosity we actually exist as
I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to have created a world where perfume, cosmetics, ice cream, entertainment, alcohol,drugs and weapons have more value than Human Life
I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to have created a world where all priorities are mixed up and in reverse -- where our industries and services focus on catering entertainment for a few instead of catering basic necessities to ALL
I forgive myself that I haven't accepted and allowed myself to see and realise that the only common sense way of setting one's priorities is to FIRST take care of all basic needs of everyone and then SECONDLY only look at entertainment
I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to have created a world of pure evil
I forgive myself that I haven't accepted and allowed myself to see and realise that no goodness can exist in a world where the majority suffers and where this can EASILY be fixed
I forgive myself that I haven't accepted and allowed myself to see and realise that any inaction towards changing the current world system to a structure of support for all Life is in fact criminal
I forgive myself that I haven't accepted and allowed myself to see and realise that there is not one good reason why an Equal Money System should not be implemented
I forgive myself that I haven't accepted and allowed myself to see and realise that if I resist an Equal Money System and prefer the current system over an Equal Money System -- I am in fact preferring Abuse over Life
I forgive myself that I haven't accepted and allowed myself to see and realise that an Equal Money System is the only solution to rectify the mess we've made on Earth
I commit myself to expose the murderous consequences of our current world Economic System and consumption habits in the name of Profit and the Pursuit of Happiness
I commit myself to expose that anyone favouring the current World Economic System is in fact favouring Abuse over Life
I commit myself to show that any failure to act or address the abhorrent lack of access to basic goods and services within our world is in fact deliberate abuse and is only a reflection of the evil we allow within us
I commit myself to show that an Equal Money System is in fact possible and that it does not take a lot to cater for everyone's basic needs and that all will still be able to enjoy a more than modest life
I commit myself to show that any fear in relation to an Equal Money System is in fact irrational and tied to personal self-interest over the interest of what is Best for All Life
I commit myself to the redistribution of resources so they may reach everyone in all the corners of the world and not just a select few as the image below clearly indicates
Thank you Leila for sharing/ exposing this information that we often simply regard as 'statistics' - no other economist actually dares to give further perspectives that Do consider the value of Life and the actual consequences of what such numbers entail.
ReplyDeleteThanks for a really interesting article and really highlights how possible it could be to eradicate poverty and the suffering that comes with it. I wonder if it would be useful to highlight which are public and private expenditures as public expenditure can be directed from one thing to another with policy and the amount stays the same as it come from a fixed source eg. tax. Whereas private expenditure is often individual and variable, for example if everyone stopped buying cosmetics everyone in the cosmetics and attached industries would lose there jobs, stop paying tax, take up welfare/services and so there would not necessarily be the same amount of money left to transfer to other more important things. Anyway I would be really interested to hear your thought on this
ReplyDeleteIt would make a difference in terms of where the money comes from -- public or private expenditure -- as you pointed out. Though, within this blog I merely touched upon one of the many aspects within our current economic system which reveals the values we as a society place upon certain outcomes or goods -- which when reflecting upon it, are quite irrational from a broader perspective when looking at the current state of the world, and the abhorrent conditions many find themselves within.
ReplyDeleteWhen looking at the issue from a different angle, it does not really matter where the money comes from (public or private), as the essential point is that we are living in an economic system with distorted values. The expenditures listed, reflect the dynamics between supply and demand which is one of the base fundamental systems in our economy. The problem already starts right there, where a person's demand is necessarily linked with their ability to pay for the goods/services wanted or needed (and the fact that there's no differentiating between a 'want' or a 'need' in itself is also problematic). This results in skewed supply and demand curves which determine how much and at what price particular goods and services should be provided -- as they only answer to the demand/wants/needs of those who have money and does not reflect the needs/wants from the whole population in question. This would then (partially) explain the expenditure figures. If everyone's wants and needs were taken as a valid demand, no matter what the state is of a person's income -- these figures would be quite different and the various industries, sectors and markets involved would then restructure themselves according to these new sets of values.
This in itself is however not a complete solution, as now obviously those with low income / no income still dont have the means of accessing the goods and services they need/want. For this a system ought to be in place, where the Basic Income Grant is a cool first point of implementation, to provide those people with a disposable income. Such a system would however still not be a permanent solution, as there are still so many other points in place in our current economic system which would ultimately render this change ineffective -- yet it's a good start to begin with.
The solution that I propose is that of the Equal Money System, which is a more broader encompassing perspective/solution to our current economic system (than for instance the BIG porposal). You can read up about it here: www.equalmoney.org and feel free to join the forum @ www.equalmoney.org/forum for discussion.