I came across an interested graphic by a group called Visual Economics, which breaks down how much certain countries spend on education, health and military, as represented by the percentage of total budget allocated. I haven’t researched the source of their data, but at the very least it provides an interested discussion point.
Here are the countries listed (in alphabetical order) that spend more on education than their military:
Argentina
Australia
Canada
Columbia
Germany
Indonesia
Italy
Japan
Mexico
Morocco
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Norway
Spain
South Africa
Thailand
United Kingdom
These are the countries that spend more on the military:
China
India
Iran
Russia
Pakistan
United Arab Emirates
United States
The United States spends more on its military than any other country in the world, almost 5 times as much as China, which is number two on the list, and more than 10 times as much as Russia, which is number three.
These are the types of statistics I think about when I read about ever-increasing class sizes in K – 12 education, teacher layoffs, and the rising cost of college education.
For those that believe simply “laying off” a portion of our military is too drastic, why not convert a portion of our national defense into an infrastructure-building juggernaut? Construct a U.S. rail system that works. Focus military think tanks on creating more efficient, ecologically sound farming systems, and share these technologies with other nations. Sick the defense contractors on building clean, energy-producing machines that harvest wind, thermal, solar, or tidal power.
Jun 24, 2012I’m all for cutting U.S. military spending, but the education problem really isn’t a money problem. We expect too much of our schools – babysitting, social work, crime control, vocational training, entertainment, etc. – and are surprised that it costs so much. Public schools are poor substitutes for family and community.
It wasn’t long ago, when divorce and co-habitation were virtually unheard of, that the Catholic Church had battalions of consecrated religious men and women – monks and nuns – who educated millions (of all faiths) at very little cost. Chico used to have them, too. These dedicated souls have not only disappeared from education, but from health care as well. Their loss has been … expensive.
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12:57 pm
Why is it that cuts to the military are always seen as “disastrous” but cuts to education, fire and police protection are always belt-tightening?