In 2016, the U.S. spent $741.3 billion on foreign and domestic militarism.
That’s 64% of the federal discretionary budget.
$304 billion went directly to corporations.
The number of people in the U.S. living in poverty or who qualify as low-income, whose needs could and should be met by the money spent on weapons.
Lockheed Martin alone received more than $36 billion in military contracts — an amount higher than the budgets of 22 of the 50 states.
U.S. military contractors also fuel global warfare through the international arms trade. Between 2012 and 2016, U.S. arms producers were responsible for a full one-third of major global arms exports.
Most of these arms go to repressive regimes that use U.S.-made weapons in brutal military campaigns that harm and kill civilians. In fact, the U.S. now supplies military assistance — in the form of military or weapons training, military arms financing, and weapons transfers — to 73% of the world’s dictatorships.
Since the 1990s, over 5 billion dollars worth of military grade weapons and equipment have been transferred to local police forces. The militarization of police results in the disproportionate targeting of communities of color, and perpetuates a culture of violence, aggression, fear, and hostility.