Money spent on weapons is largely wasted Essay

Many countries have engaged in programs of purchasing and manufacturing weapons. Countries spend a lot of money in these weapons manufacture. There have been heated debates that have risen as a result of the expenses that the countries incur. There are those who argues that the large sum of money spent in manufacturing weapons could be used in other sectors of economy that would help the citizens in a more direct way for example education and health sector. On the other hand, there are those who argue that it is good for the countries to spend the money because weapons act as security for the people. This paper discusses the issue that money spent in weapons is largely wasted. The first part of the paper discusses why money spent on weapons is largely wasted and the second part will look at reasons as to why the money for the weapons is not wasted. There are basic needs that people in a country need. There are food, quality shelter and clothing, which they cannot live without. Many countries spend so much money on weapons while their citizens are dying of poverty. Instead of spending money on changing the lifestyle of the people, most governments spend large sums of money to buy weapons. Most of the weapons that many governments spend money to buy are not even for the security of the nation but for power protection. The governments use the weapons to suppress any opposition that it might be facing within the country. The money used in money rooted from the country banks and money raised from tax (Smith, 1989). For example, what used to happen in Iraq during the reign of Saddam Hussein where it is he spent a lot of money to manufacture and purchase weapons for his own power protection. Many of the well known world dictators also spend more money on weapons than they use for the welfare of their people (Cleave, 2001). War arises as people fail to agree on various important aspects for example boundary conflicts or political differences. This means that war is a man made thing because it is the people who decide to engage in war. There are many ways that can be used to solve conflicts without engaging in war. Despite the fact that war is one of the means that can be used to solve conflicts it should always be used as the last option in any conflict resolution management and transformation. Other peace initiatives such as use of dialogue, mediation and arbitration between the conflicting sides are cheaper and healthier than war. Therefore, governments allover the world should concentrate on making people aware of importance of peace maintenance and on conflict resolutions. This would be more logic and cheap that spending billions of dollar on weapons to be used on wars (Quinlan, 2009). Peace education and awareness would not cost much because the most important thing is just to come up with programs on how this would be carried. On the other hand, weapons are so much expensive because they entail either importing them or manufacturing them, which is very costly because of the labour and the technology use in their manufacture. Therefore, it would be waste of money on the weapons for war instead of using some other ways, which are more cheap and healthier to solve conflicts. Weapons are destructive in their making and in the way that they are used. During wars, there are a lot of destructions that are done by the use of weapons both to human and to infrastructure. Many lives are lost as a result because of destructive weapons. Countries undergo also of loses as a result of war. Most countries that have ever engaged in wars have repercussions that are difficult to resolve in their economies. They spend a lot of money in the reconstructions. Therefore, there is lack of logic to spend so much money to purchase or manufacture weapons that would cause a lot of destructions that would require even more money to restructure. This is double loss to the country because once the weapons are used they cannot be reused again. The money spent on the weapons and also in reconstruction of the damages caused could be used in other development in a country (Great Britain. Parliament. House of Lords, 1990). However, on the other hand money spent on weapons is not waste. This is because many countries are faced with threats from outside and, therefore, they need to be on alert all the time and be armed. In the world we are living today, there are a lot of threats to national security, for example, terrorists. These are threat, which can attack a nation even without prior signs. Therefore, if a country is got unaware there might be bad repercussions, as the country cannot defend itself if it does not have enough arms to face the enemies. It is therefore advisable for countries to have sophisticated weapons, which are able to protect the country from enemies such as terrorist who use modern weapons. This would act as a way of restoring the pride and sovereignty of a country (Needler, 1996). Weapons manufacturing has also become an industry that many people are employed in and a sector, which is used to gauge the rate of development of a country. Many people are employed in weapon industries where they work in various sectors of the industry (McNaugher, 1989). This helps to raise the living standards of the people. A country, which invests more on this industry, offers more employment opportunities to its people. People in a country, which have sophisticated weapons, have a sense of security as they feel that they have enough protection. Therefore, the money that their countries spend on the weapons is not a waste to them but acts as a source of security and also an investment where they can get jobs. It is also worth to spend much money in weapons if that is what other countries are doing. This is because if other countries have sophisticated weapons which another country does not have this is a threat to the country because if anything happens and the countries engage in war it is to the disadvantage of the country without enough weapons. Therefore, much spending on weapons is not waste as this is a trend that many countries have taken even as technology continues to develop. This is just the same way countries are spending so much money in modern technology, for example, in buying computers and other modern technology equipments (Forest, 2006). Therefore, as the debate continues governments from various countries have their own reasons as to why they have to spend so much money on weapons. However, it is important for any government to spend money equitably in all its sectors so that it does not spend much on weapons and forgets other sectors, which are basic for the country. This would make the people not to see as if their government is wasting money on weapons. References Cleave, J. (2001) Christianity: behaviour, attitudes & lifestyles, New York, Heinemann. Forest, J. (2006) Homeland Security: Public spaces and social institutions, Vol 2, New York, Greenwood Publishing Group. Great Britain. Parliament. House of Lords. (1990) The parliamentary debates (Hansard): official report, Volume 531, H. M. S. O. McNaugher, T. (1989) New weapons, old politics: America’s military procurement muddle, New York, Brookings Institution Press. Needler, M. (1996) Identity, interest, and ideology: an introduction to politics, New York, Greenwood Publishing Group. Quinlan, M. (2009) Thinking about nuclear weapons: principles, problems, prospects Oxford University Press US. Smith, J. (1989) The world’s wasted wealth: the political economy of waste, Michigan, New Worlds Press.