Military Spending

After a short-lived decrease following the end of the Cold War and modest cutbacks following the height of combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. military spending is once again on the rise. More than half the U.S. discretionary federal budget goes for destructive purposes while the remaining discretionary federal programs—including energy and the environment, housing, health, and transportation—divide the remainder. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said decades ago: “A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.”

We see the true cost of these misguided priorities in unaffordable education, environmental destruction, a crumbling infrastructure, and the lack of universal access to comprehensive healthcare. Cutting military spending and putting billions of discretionary dollars towards positive ends—education, housing, addressing climate change and creating green jobs—would create a more just economy and improve life for many people. UFPJ works with many organizations and coalitions to challenge U.S. budget priorities that fuel the arms race and conflicts around the world.