By John Tierney, Executive Director
We’re seeing an important shift in discussions about what national security really means and whether we’ve been focusing on the threats Americans are really facing.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to change the way we work, learn and live our day-to-day lives, one thing has become increasingly clear: our government was not prepared to deal with this crisis.
It has become painfully clear that we have been thinking about security in the wrong way.
Threats like cyber-attacks, communicable diseases, economic insecurity, and the damaging effects of climate change have all been treated as secondary to the fever dream of a return to great power competition and the defense industrial complex that feeds it.
This global catastrophe must serve as a wake-up call. We must realign our national security policy and focus on the real issues that will keep our citizens and our economy safe.
Council for a Livable World is on the front line of these issues, working to rein in a dangerously bloated and misaligned defense budget. We enable experts to educate Members of Congress on critical emerging threats. And, we are endorsing a new class of candidates for Congress who will play a crucial part in changing the way in which this country prioritizes our national security.
But there is a major fight ahead of us. Already, weapons contractors are lobbying to increase standard defense spending under the argument that it will be good for the reeling economy. Complicating matters, due to necessary social distancing, Congress is conducting a lot of its review of this year’s defense budget away from the public eye.
That’s why we need your help. We cannot allow more reckless spending that does nothing to mitigate the threats all around us. Together, we can cut spending to big-budget weapons programs that have consistently proven to be a wasteful draw on the federal budget and taxpayer dollars.
Together, we can push Congress to broaden its concept of national security by allocating national security resources beyond just the military, and include money for biomedical research, rebuilding our national health stockpile, fighting climate change, and other essentials for strengthening our nation’s security.
Our staff and partners are fighting for this new progressive national security policy every day, but we cannot do it without you. Please consider donating and help us reshape national security priorities in this nation, to build a more livable world.
