what can "you" do? (BLOG #10)
In order to stop nuclear proliferation and reduce the risk of any use of nuclear weapons, the United States must examine its own nuclear inventory and find a way to reduce its nuclear forces. One of the best-kept defense secrets of the past sixty years has been the high cost of producing and maintaining nuclear weapons, somewhere between $5 trillion to $6 trillion, which represents one-fourth of overall defense spending. The total is roughly equivalent to the total budget spent on the Army or the Navy since World War II. The staggering cost of maintaining bloated nuclear programs over the next decade will amount to $600 billion. Nuclear weapons lead humanity on a path towards collective suicide. For the sake of our children, and for the sake of future generations, we must stop our governments from continuing along this path.
There is hope, some countries have lead the way by getting rid of their weapons. South Africa had nuclear weapons in the 1970s but chose the benefits of disarmament, joining the international community as a country that valued cooperation rather than violence. Once the decision is made, disarmament can happen quite quickly. In every case, politicians and military leaders have pursued nuclear weapons without democratic debate in their country. Public opinion polls conducted in nuclear and non-nuclear weapon states show large majorities favoring the abolition of nuclear weapons, and every year at the United Nations when all governments vote, we see the vast majority of the 191 countries voting for the abolition of nuclear weapons. Citizens in nuclear weapons states should question why their leaders feel so entitled to gamble with their lives.
"The impacts of nuclear weapons are not abstract or speculative. We know how terrible their impact is. Nuclear weapons have been used twice and have been tested on numerous occasions. And yet the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki did not put a stop to the race to acquire nuclear weaponry and test it, showing complete disregard to human beings and natural habitats; treating entire populations as guinea pigs.The Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior then helped the 350 residents leave the island they had populated for thousands of years and relocate them to another island. In the early 1990s the US acknowledged the damage cause to the Rongelapese and after long legal battles agreed to pay some compensations. Nearly 30 years later, the Ronglapese still live in exile."
"Coming Together to Stop Nuclear Weapons." Greenpeace International. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2017.
There are many organizations out there trying to stop this already and you could join and help fight this. Organizations such as GreenPeace, Ralph Nader's Critical Mass, Friends of the Earth, etc..
There is hope, some countries have lead the way by getting rid of their weapons. South Africa had nuclear weapons in the 1970s but chose the benefits of disarmament, joining the international community as a country that valued cooperation rather than violence. Once the decision is made, disarmament can happen quite quickly. In every case, politicians and military leaders have pursued nuclear weapons without democratic debate in their country. Public opinion polls conducted in nuclear and non-nuclear weapon states show large majorities favoring the abolition of nuclear weapons, and every year at the United Nations when all governments vote, we see the vast majority of the 191 countries voting for the abolition of nuclear weapons. Citizens in nuclear weapons states should question why their leaders feel so entitled to gamble with their lives.
"The impacts of nuclear weapons are not abstract or speculative. We know how terrible their impact is. Nuclear weapons have been used twice and have been tested on numerous occasions. And yet the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki did not put a stop to the race to acquire nuclear weaponry and test it, showing complete disregard to human beings and natural habitats; treating entire populations as guinea pigs.The Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior then helped the 350 residents leave the island they had populated for thousands of years and relocate them to another island. In the early 1990s the US acknowledged the damage cause to the Rongelapese and after long legal battles agreed to pay some compensations. Nearly 30 years later, the Ronglapese still live in exile."
"Coming Together to Stop Nuclear Weapons." Greenpeace International. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2017.
There are many organizations out there trying to stop this already and you could join and help fight this. Organizations such as GreenPeace, Ralph Nader's Critical Mass, Friends of the Earth, etc..
"Greenpeace USA." Greenpeace USA. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2017.
"The War Resisters League Commemorates the 66th Anniversary of the Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima." War Resisters League. N.p., 23 July 2015. Web. 13 Feb. 2017.
"The War Resisters League Commemorates the 66th Anniversary of the Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima." War Resisters League. N.p., 23 July 2015. Web. 13 Feb. 2017.