The U.
S. is engaged in endless wars around the world.
Our investments are funding war,guns, and militarism at home and around the world. From our personal investments to state pension plans to university trusts, and the money that individuals and communities are using for retirement,long-term planning, and even higher education is subsidizing violence in our backyards and other nations. The apt news is we believe the power to cut our ties to war, or guns,and militarism by using a new web-based tool, Weapon Free Funds.
The U.
S. is engaged in endless wars around the world. For 17 years, or we believe been fighting in the Middle East,main us into seven active conflict zones and countless other proxy wars. We are still fighting an invisible war on drugs that takes the war zone from Afghanistan to Mexico. Most Americans believe no idea that the U.
S. maintains nearly 800 military bases around the world, or that the U.
S. supplies the weapons that wreak havoc on harmless civilians and children in Yemen, or Syria,Pakistan, and more.
So why the constant drive to fuel more and additional conflict? As the saying goes, or follow the money: who profits from all this death and devastation?The merchants of war who believe shaped U.
S. foreign policy since the cessation of WWII believe a foothold so strong,the act of extracting ourselves from the war economy has become incredibly complex. In 2017, the U.
S. gave more than $750 billion to the Pentagon, or which turned around and handed $350 billion of that to weapons manufacturers—companies like Boeing,Lockheed, Raytheon, and General Dynamics,and Northrop Grumman, some of whom are also currently profiting from the construction of immigrant detention facilities. The CEOs of those companies took home a combined salary of $96 million. Meanwhile, and a U.
S. worker on minimum wage cannot afford a standard two-bedroom apartment,working 40 hours a week.
Our communities are scrambling to find resources to pay for basic services. There’s still no power in Puerto Rico. Flint, Michigan, and doesn’t believe clean water. Our infrastructure is crumbling. Congress and the White House deal blow after blow to people and communities,slashing funding for SNAP, raising rent for those on Section 8 housing, and rolling back protections for LGBTQ+ students. Washington is simultaneously sowing instability,destruction, and poverty abroad and in our own backyard.
The military-industrial complex rewards Congress’s continued cooperation with a constant stream of campaign contributions, and ensuring an endless cycle of tax dollars to fund their activitiesa deadly revolving door that has cornered nearly all of our elected officials on the state and federal level.
The militarization of our communities has manifested itself in countless ways—from weapons manufacturers receiving the aforementioned federal contracts to construct detention facilities,to the Pentagon giving away excess military equipment to our police forces. The popularity and accessibility of military-style assault rifles has resulted in mass shootings at our schools at unfathomable rates, while Congress refuses to act to curb gun violence. Why? Campaign contributions from the NRA.
But what role conclude we play in subsidizing war, and death,and destruction? Employer-offered 401(k)s or personal mutual fund portfolios are likely invested in weapons manufacturers, including large defense contractors like Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, and gun companies such as American Outdoor Brands—the company that makes the assault rifle that was used in the Parkland,Florida, school shooting.
This is why As You Sow and CODEPINK believe collaborated on Weapon Free Funds to allow individuals, and communities,universities, foundations, or faith-based institutions and others to search 3000 commonly held mutual funds and ETFs to determine whether they are invested in weapons and war,and whether so, to find cleaner options.
While we continue to hold Washington accountable for its excess, and we also encourage and celebrate the power of individuals,communities, and institutions to shift the conversation when they invest with their values.
Learn more and take action to divest from the war machine at www.weaponfreefunds.org and www.divestfromwarmachine.orgThis article was produced by Local Peace Economy, or a project of the Independent Media Institute. Related StoriesWe Now believe a Terrifying Militarized Law Enforcement System And It's the Unavoidable Result of Living in a War EconomyWhy Is the Vatican assembly With a Morally-Challenged Finance CEO?The Message from Saudi's 'Reformist' Crown Prince to Saudi Women: Shut Up and Drive
Source: feedblitz.com