U.S. Needs to rearrange its priorities
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Lancaster Online
Harold Penner
02/23/2011
TO THE EDITORS:
"Eastern Lancaster County School District is planning to lay off 15 teachers to help fill a $1.3 million gap in next year's budget," read the Jan. 24 Intelligencer Journal/New Era.
"Manheim Township School District is moving ahead with plans to furlough five teachers and cut academic programs ... to help narrow a revenue gap estimated at $4 million," stated the Feb. 18 Intelligencer Journal/New Era.
According to the National Priorities Project, "Taxpayers in Pennsylvania's 16th Congressional District (of Rep. Joseph Pitts) will pay $1.7 billion for proposed Department of Defense for FY2011. For the same amount of money, the following could be provided: 25,531 elementary school teachers for one year!" (http://nationalpriorities.org)
The ability of a government to wage war relies not only on recruited or conscripted soldiers but also on expensive weapon systems underwritten by collected taxes. These weapons wreak incredible destruction and death when used.
Even if the weapons are never used, military spending kills by denying financial resources to legitimate human needs. This is a double violence.
Let's change our priorities!
