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>How much does peace cost? > Has anybody ever costed it? Depends on what you mean by 'tools' but I would say the Marshall plan, roughly $100B in today's money,
by feral 5y ago
>How much does peace cost?
> Has anybody ever costed it?
Depends on what you mean by 'tools' but I would say the Marshall plan, roughly $100B in today's money, would be a good example of this.
Explicit investment to rebuild Europe after WW2.
Some say this was because they learned it worked out badly to leave Germany broke and broken after WW1 (fertile ground for facism).
Others might say it was because a prosperous Europe wouldn't be as likely to become communist.
Either way I think it counts as an explicit mega investment in preventing war by peaceful means.
They could have just decided to invest the money in weapons instead.
- VortexDream 5y agoThe only reason why the Marshall plan worked is because there was a world war and nearly everybody in Europe decided "not again". Other countries have not made this experience and for them military conflict (or threat of conflict) is still a valid and legitimate way to protect their interests and expand their sphere of influence (see China and the South China sea). What worked in one place will not necessarily work elsewhere. In fact, I think it's already proven to not have worked in the case of China. Despite the amount of money flowing into the country over the past 2 decades, their ambition and their tension with their neighbors have only grown. They're on their way to becoming a military superpower as well.
- cvwright 5y agoOr the billions wasted trying to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan.
- VortexDream 5y agoDefinitely. Money isn't the solution to everything. It's necessary, but if there's no actual buy-in by the people and/or the ones in charge, it's like throwing money into a pit and setting it on fire.