Global Day of Action on Military Spending

Check out this website and call to action for a Global Day of Action on Military Spending. It’s a great resource to discuss the cost of militarization and alternative social and fiscal priorities. 

Here’s some background info from the website:

In 2009, global military spending surged to an all-time high of US $1.53 trillion. Given the numerous crises facing the planet — economic, environmental, health, diplomatic — it is imperative that we create a global movement to shift this money to human needs. We know that there are thousands of organizations and millions of individuals who support this point of view – what is needed is to begin a serious mobilizing effort to make it visible.

As part of this campaign, we propose a Global Day of Action on Military Spending for April 12, 2011 to coincide with the release of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s annual report, which will include new figures on military expenditures. On this day, people all over the world will join together in joint actions to focus public, political, and media attention on the costs of military spending and the need for new priorities. Such events will help us to build the international network around this issue.

While each location will craft its own approach, we hope there will be a common focus on calling attention to the overall size of global military spending. This would need in most cases to be linked to a related national (or local) issue, such as the Afghanistan war, anti-bases efforts, arms trade deals, work against small arms, resources for nonviolent conflict resolution, Article 9 campaign etc. We very much hope that peace groups will use this as an opportunity to connect up with anti-poverty, environmental, pro-democracy organizations and others who share our perspective.

As for types of actions: a whole range is possible! — from street theatre/demonstrations and erecting banners to seminars, signature collection and much more. Many slogans come to mind:What Would You Do With $1.5 Trillion? $1.5 Trillion Is Insane! Trillions for War or Trillions for Peace? etc. We plan to issue a Toolkit before long to assist organizers. A key aspect is the visual side. By generating some captivating images, we plan to attract widespread media coverage and make available photos of our rallies and events. We will compile an album of pictures from around the world and post them online to document the global movement and to use to accompany stories about the SIPRI report and our own actions.

We have commitments from organizations in the United States (in Washington, New York, Boston, Western Massachusetts, the Bay Area, Maine and Honolulu) as well as South Korea, Switzerland, South Africa, Lebanon, the Philippines, and Greece. Can we add you to our list?