What happened in America a country started and
developed on rights, concepts of peace and human betterment.
In 1793 there was a proposal before the department of Peace,
again in 1925, 26 &27 all see requests, in 1935, 43, 45, 46, 47 and from
1955 through 1968 there was no less than 85 bills introduced the department of
peace. In 1969, again in 1979, 2001 and in 2005 all shared an idea of an equal
footing to the department of defense by the introduction of the department of
Peace.
In 1984 President Ronald Reagan signed a law developing The
United States Institute of Peace which receives its budget from the department
of defense at a total of 43 million, which is less than one-tenth of one
percent of the states departments budget, and less than one-hundredth of one
percent of the Pentagon’s budget.
So why is it that we do not have such a department of peace?
To further this line of questions I went to the library of
congress and found the following from the last attempt, what I found was truly
amazing, I found that congress has itself requested information and found the
following to be true.
Congress finds the following:
(1)
On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress unanimously
declared the independence of the 13 colonies, and the achievement of peace was
recognized as one of the highest duties of the new organization of free and
independent States by declaring, We hold these truths to be self-evident, that
all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of
Happiness.
(2)
The Constitution of the United States of America, in its
Preamble, further sets forth the insurance of the cause of peace in stating: We
the People of the United States, in Order to Form a more perfect Union,
establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence,
promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves
and our Posterity.
(3)
During the course of the 20th century, more than 100,000,000
people perished in wars. The United States
has been at war over the past decade, with 6,600 members of the Armed Forces
and hundreds of thousands of civilians estimated to have been killed in the
conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
(4)
Every year 300,000 people are killed by gun violence around
the world. In the United
States, 100,000 people are shot each year in
murders, assaults, suicides and suicide attempts, accidents, and police
actions. Over 30,000 people die each year of gunshot wounds, 12,000 of whom are
murdered. Every day, 50 children are shot, and 8 of those children die.
(5)
A 2004 World Health Organization report estimates that
interpersonal violence within the United States costs approximately
$300 billion annually, not including war-related costs. The Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention states that an average of 16 people age 10 to 24 were
murdered each day in the United
States in 2005. The Pew Charitable Trust
calculates that child abuse and neglect in the United States cost $103.8 billion
in 2007.
(6)
In 1999, the United Nations adopted a Programme of Action on
a Culture of Peace, stating that a culture of peace is an integral approach to
preventing violence and violent conflicts, an alternative to the culture of war
and violence, and is based on education for peace, the promotion of sustainable
economic and social development, respect for human rights, equality between
women and men, democratic participation, tolerance, and the free flow of
information and disarmament. The United Nations declared the years 2001 through
2010 an International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the
Children of the World and the United Nations supports a culture of peace going
forward.
(7)
On April 4, 2012, the Institute for Economics and Peace
released a United States Peace Index, which assessed peacefulness at the State
and city levels and analyzed the costs associated with violence and the
socio-economic measures associated with peace. While violence within the United States
had declined over the year 2011, violence and violence containment still cost
the average taxpayer $3,257. The total cost of violence to the United States—including
lost productivity from violence—was conservatively calculated to be over $460
billion.
(8)
A study by the Institute for Economics and Peace released
September 20, 2012, reports conservative estimates for 2010, that 15 percent of
the gross domestic product of the United States, or $15,000 per
taxpayer, was spent on containing violence. The study included government,
corporate, and individual expenditure, regardless of whether it was related to
international affairs such as offshore military activities, or domestic
spending such as dealing with crime and the consequences of crime.
(9)
Violence prevention is cost effective. For every dollar
spent in violence prevention and peacebuilding, many lives and many dollars are
saved. The philosophy and techniques of nonviolence and the science of
peacebuilding provide tools and techniques that can be applied not only at the
levels of individual and community growth, but also within the Federal
Government and at national and international levels.
(10)
Peacebuilding is defined by the United Nations as a range of
measures targeted to reduce the risk of lapsing or relapsing into conflict by
strengthening national capacities at all levels for conflict management, and to
lay the foundations for sustainable peace and development. Peacebuilding is
built upon research into the root causes of violence in the United States and the world,
through promotion and promulgation of effective policies and programs that
ameliorate those root causes of violence, and through providing all citizens,
organizations, and governmental bodies with opportunities to learn about and practice
the essential tools of nonviolent conflict resolution and peacebuilding.
(11)
In 2000, the Earth Charter Commission released the Earth
Charter, an international declaration of fundamental values and principles
created to build a just, sustainable, and peaceful global society. The preamble
of the Earth Charter provides, To move forward we must recognize that in the
midst of a magnificent diversity of cultures and life forms we are one human
family and one Earth community with a common destiny. We must join together to
bring forth a sustainable global society founded on respect for nature,
universal human rights, economic justice, and a culture of peace. Peacebuilding
is working together with all nations to protect both life and land and hold the
Earth in balance.
So again I
ask to what rationalization do we state the department of defense gets over 2.7
trillion dollars, the intelligence agencies gets 2.4 trillion and homeland
security gets another 1.7 trillion dollars a total of 6.8 trillion dollars, The
department of state and foreign operations and related programs appropriations
act of 2015, calls for 6.4 trillion, yet within this bill is a statement that “united states
emergency refugee and migration assistance fund
For necessary expenses to carry out the
provisions of section 2(c) of the Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1962,
as amended (22 U.S.C. 2601(c)), $50,000,000,
to remain available until expended.” That is only 50 million dollars. There is
50 million refuges world wide right now.
So what happened to the idea of peace? What
happened to the idea of helping those of need to repair their lives from the
horrors of WAR.
America What Happened to you.
No Child Should Die by a Weapon of War.
Credits: the US library of Congress.