Weapons always waste. They waste if they are used. They waste if they are not used. In one year the world spends more than a trillion dollars, $1,000,000,000,000, on weapons that can only kill men, women, and children and destroy property. Meanwhile, every day 40,000 children die for lack of pennies worth of clean water and protein. The United States is the biggest spender on weapons. It spends a third of the world weapons total.
Action: We need to convert from making weapons to making tools - "from swords to plowshares". The longer we delay the poorer and more insecure we become.
Cooperation produces wealth; conflict reduces it. Cooperation makes everything easier; conflict makes everything more difficult. Imagine how much richer we would be if this had been a Century of Cooperation instead of a Century of War.
Action: We need always to offer help to people and countries, never harm. We need to resolve conflicts to mutual benefit. The necessary skills are clearly presented in Roger Fisher and William Ury's best selling book, Getting to YES. Let's make the 21st Century the Century of Cooperation.
Countries where income is distributed more equally are wealthier than countries where income is distributed more unequally.
Equality increases supply and demand. When everyone is equally employed, skills improve and product quality increases. Equality increases demand because full employment increases effective purchasing power.
Inequality reduces supply and demand. It reduces supply because underpaid people produce less and goods of lower quality than well paid people. Unemployed people produce nothing. Inequality reduces demand because underpaid and unemployed people lack the money to buy what they need.
Action: Increase wages and salaries to a larger share of the Gross Domestic Product. In 1996, 43 percent of GDP went to wages and salaries, 57 percent to investors. GDP in 1996: $7,576 billion produced by 127 million workers, or $7576/.127 = $59,653 per worker. Median weekly earnings was $490 or about $25,480 for the year (From: 1997 U.S. Statistical Abstract, pages 447, 397, and 431).
Today we waste material, effort, and people in under-education, unemployment, and over-consumption.
Action: We need to educate everyone to the limit of their ability and employ them in jobs that produce the most wealth with the least work. We are wasting our lives working harder than necessary.
In conclusion, the goal of this peace agenda is to promote a healthy economy. It boils down to offering all people help in a spirit of mutual respect and equality so we can prosper together.