So, for those of you wondering, the current cost of the war (this is strictly in terms of dollars, of course, the cost in human life is incalculable) in Iraq as of October 19, 2006 at 7:31 PM, it is $335,548,550, 650.
go here to check out what I mean. (Please note: since the financial cost of the war is rising exponentially each day, I expect the figure will look a bit different when you click on that link. Don't be alarmed by the disparity. Do be alarmed by the crazy high figure.)
If you are too lazy to check out the link, the fine people behind that website inform us that such a sum is enough to finance over 16,200,000 full college scholarships at public schools. Although tallies have not been completed yet for this year, based upon past data, this number is remarkably similar to the number of students who will begin their collegiate studies this year.
In other words, if Bush was not so "dedicated" to eradicating all non-Christians from the world, (or at least America) then it quite concievable that we could finance a goal that many across the country have: free higher education for all those who qualify.
Check out a little more info on that subject here.
In the long run, what do you think is more important? Cheaper gas so we can take the kiddies to DisneyWorld in the suburban? Or an educated generation? I know what neoliberals might say, but what do you think??
2 comments:
The problem with this argument about money spent on the war versus where the money should go relates directly to the fact that the war produces jobs. Bush's made up/choice for war creates jobs for the private sector, ranging from defense weapons to Humvee output to oil production. Sorry Chris, but strong thought actually places fact that oil cost rises with war. Because of the sabotaging of oil fields and decreased output of production due to unsafe transportation the price of oil increases. The more important question does not relate to how money gets spent by the federal government, but why it gets spent in such manners. I urge everyone to read Chris' initial comments and then read this article, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15321167/ , by Keith Olbermann. The ideas are tied together and one cannot exist without the other. Fortunately, Mr. Olbermann puts together an amazing article that should be read.
Getting back to the idea of putting every American to college, my personal opinion says that college is a privilege and not an American right. Again in my opinion, a much better use of this extraordinary amount of money should be used to allow fellow man to not have to deal with the horrors of this article: This is Not a Fairy Tale
October 5th, 2006. Well that's a start and now it's time for this blogger to go to sleep before another 14hr work day.
Ross makes an excellent point about numbers can often be misleading. I certainly did not mean to imply the relationship is so simple, but merely for the startling figure to serve as a jump off point. Thank you also for the fascinating links that were provided - everyone should take the time to read both of them, they are important to the argument.
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