28 ms·

Why not solve war and hunger while you’re at it?

• jessaustin 4y ago
  We could "solve hunger" in USA with just the money we're wasting prolonging the suffering in Ukraine. Not spending lots of money to fill troubled areas with deadly weapons (see also Haiti, Ethiopia, Syria, Yemen, Libya, etc.) might not solve war but would certainly reduce it. We don't do rational and good things, because 95% of Americans have no effect on what our nation actually does. Our system is a simulation of democratic rule, where we make a great show of occasionally choosing between Coke and Pepsi. Meanwhile all laws are written by lobbyists. They also appoint all bureaucrats, which explains why we performed more poorly against covid than every other nation, except Peru, Brazil, and a few eastern European nations... while spending twice as much on health care as every other nation. Gosh I wonder where Pfizer is spending their windfall profits? You'll know that things are about to change when the billionaires begin dying violently. So, not soon.
• semi-extrinsic 4y ago
  The fact that you think this is a strong counter-argument is a bit telling. War is different from the other things here, because it's not something a nationstate can unilaterally solve. But I don't think anyone disagrees that well-developed societies should strive to implement mechanisms that avoid war. But hunger, universal healthcare, reduction of homelessness to a minimum and adequate social safety nets are all universally agreed-on goals for developed societies. And if you look outside the US you will find 50+ countries that are actually achieving these things. You may take the Wikipedia list of countries with universal healthcare as a starting point.