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.
Celebrate Armistice Day – Wage Peace with Renewed Energy!
by Gerry Condon November 11 is Armistice Day, marking the 1918 armistice that ended the First World War, on the “eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.” Horrified by the industrial slaughter of millions of soldiers and civilians, the people of the...
How did your representative vote on legislation to cut the Pentagon budget?
Our representatives recently voted on historic legislation to cut the Pentagon budget by 10%. Do you know how your representative voted? Now is the time to take action to hold our representatives accountable for approving a $740 billion Pentagon budget during the...
Tell Congress: Bailout People, NOT the Pentagon!
While everyday workers are struggling to survive, the Senate is considering giving the Pentagon $30 billion more in funding in the next COVID-19 relief package for fighter jets, helicopters, radars, ships and armored vehicles. We cannot afford to give one more penny...
U.S. Conference of Mayors Calls for Human-Centered Security in a Time of Global Pandemic
At the close of its 88th Annual Meeting, held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, on June 30, 2020, the United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) Executive Committee unanimously adopted a sweeping resolution “Calling for Human-Centered Security in a Time of Global...
Mapping the Militarization of Police
Central to the crucial debates about policing and racism that Americans are engaged in is the growing militarization of U.S. law enforcement: adoption of the equipment, tactics and mindset of the military, along with the overwhelmingly disproportionate use of SWAT...
Global #FREEZEWeapons Campaign
United for Peace and Justice has endorsed the new Global #FREEZEWeapons Campaign to urge our own and other countries to freeze weapons production, trade and supply. Propelled by the devastating impact of the COVID-19 coronavirus globally, the SCRAP Weapons team at...
Multi-faceted Peace Campaign Highlights Raytheon Company Destructive Purpose
As the Saudi-waged war on Yemen gained steam with U.S.-made weapons killing tens of thousands of Yemeni children, peace activists in the Boston area, home to the Raytheon Company, developed a sophisticated campaign to highlight the company’s destructive misdeeds....
Take Action to End the Korean War and Divest From the War Machine!
The coronavirus pandemic highlights the urgent need to reprioritize US foreign policy toward global cooperation and peace. Join UFPJ member groups and affiliates for these exciting actions and webinars. 1) National Action to End the Korean War: June 1 – 5,...
Move the Nuclear Weapons (and Fossil Fuel) Money
International webinar: April 21, 2020. Held in conjunction with Earth Day 2020 and the Global Days of Action on Military Spending, April 10 – May 5, 2020. Watch the video here. The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the need for governments and the international...
Stop the War on the Poor: Combating U.S. Military and the War Economy
“We must rapidly begin the shift from a ‘thing-oriented’ society to a ‘person-oriented’ society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are...
April 22: on the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day, Divest from the War Machine
April 22 2020 is officially the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. Addressing the climate crisis is one of the most important challenges of our time. The U.S. military is the world’s largest consumer of oil and causes more greenhouse gas pollution than 140 nations...
Global Day of Action Against Military Spending Briefing Calls
Recordings of these calls are now available at the links below: March 25 Call March 19 Call Join Shailly Gupta Barnes of the Kairos Center and environmental attorney Mark Dunlea for the second of two national calls on Global Days of Action on Military Spending...