Critical Considerations

July 2024

This month’s articles:

• Is there a better way to spend $91 billion? (Karen Donahue, RSM)

• Education, Agriculture, & Emigration in the Philippines (Helen Libo-on, RSM; Institute Justice Team)

• Beyond Voting: Participating in Elections, part 1 (Rose Marie Tresp, RSM; Institute Justice Team)

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Is there a better way to spend $91 billion?

Karen Donahue, RSM

Last month, several news outlets including NPR and The Guardian, reported on the growing reliance on nuclear weapons by the world’s nine nuclear-armed states – China, France, India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States. In a report released on June 17, 2024, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (winner of the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize) noted that the nuclear states spent $10.8 billion more (a 13.4 percent increase) on their nuclear arsenals in 2023 than they did in the previous year, for a total of $91.4 billion. This comes to a shocking $2,898 per second!

At a time when the world is facing multiple crises, including endemic poverty and catastrophic climate change, it is difficult – if not impossible – to justify this level of spending on weapons that must never be used. Over the past five years (2019-2023), the nuclear powers have spent $387 billion to build and maintain their nuclear arsenals. By comparison, in 2021 the Director of the UN World Food Program stated that it would be possible to end global hunger if the world would spend $40 billion a year over the next nine years ($360 billion).  This is $27 billion less than the nuclear states have spent on nuclear weapons in just five years.

While the report itself is lengthy (86 pages), it is worth perusing. It is heavy on graphics that are very informative. There is a section devoted to each nuclear power (the U.S. is on page 19). Another section looks at the major defense contractors and notes what they spend on lobbying, the number of lobbyists hired, and what think tanks they support. Major U.S.–based contractors include Boeing (page 30), General Dynamics (page 34), Lockheed Martin (page 48), and Northrup Grumman (page 50).

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Education, Agriculture, & Emigration in the Philippines

Helen Libo-on, RSM; Institute Justice Team

In the Philippines, the ministry of educating children is really a challenging one. The parents will tell their children “You must be educated so you can earn a living.” When the children experience how hard their parents work tilling their farms, they prefer to have white collar jobs to becoming farmers. So, the main aim now for the youth is to have jobs not in our own country but outside the country, because the Philippines cannot provide the jobs they want.

We hear that many foreigners would love to have Filipino or Filipina nurses, because they care for their patients with love. This is becoming a thing of the past, since more and more Filipino/Filipina nurses want to become nurses as their passports to living abroad. Once they arrive, these nurses often change their jobs! Many migrants become successful in other countries, and most of them are in the U.S.A. Once they establish themselves, they encourage their relatives to go live with them, too.

In the end, nobody is left in our country to till the farms. We were once international leaders in rice and corn production, but not now. We are now eating rice imported from other countries. The government is importing this staple food because that’s one way the government can make money. Once the farmland is no longer used for farming, some of it gets turned into big malls and subdivisions for housing.

In the final analysis, is the education ministry not really helping our economy? Where do we go from here?

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Beyond Voting: Participating in Elections, part 1

Rose Marie Tresp, RSM; Institute Justice Team

John Lewis, late civil-rights activist and member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia, stated: “The vote is precious. It is the most powerful non-violent tool we have in a democratic society, and we must use it.”

Although national elections often receive the most attention, the outcome of elections at the state level may determine a significant number of decisions about laws and regulations related to our Critical Concerns. Decisions at the state level will impact both the resources used and the regulations that affect the environment, the criminal justice system, the education systems, voting regulations, social services and many other issues. Decisions at a local town, city, or county level may determine zoning laws, school boards and the office of the police chief.

The first necessary step is to register to vote. Since some states have been purging their voter rolls, even those who think they are registered should check to make sure the registration is still valid. Generally checking your registration status should also give you other information about voting precincts, sample ballots, etc. This link will guide you to make sure your registration is still valid: VOTE411 (blue box in the image at the top). This site is sponsored by the League of Woman Voters and is non-partisan.

The second step is to become familiar with your state’s voter registration deadlines and requirements for voting. VOTE411 (scroll down to the US map) will guide you to specific information for your state such as voter registration guidelines, requirements, and deadlines.

Please remember that state laws and regulations possibly have changed since the last election, so don’t rely on your memory from the last election.

A third step is to decide to deepen your engagement in the system of voting. You could be a poll worker, a poll observer, or a poll protector. Below are general descriptions of these roles, but the terminology may vary from state to state.

Poll workers sign up with their local Boards of Elections to work the polls. This may even be a paid position.

Poll observers inside the voting area are allowed in some states. The number inside a polling place is limited; rules for participation vary from state to state. Poll observers may be assigned through the pollical parties. This role is sometimes called partisan citizen observers. Poll Watchers and Challengers (ncsl.org)

Poll protectors are usually organized and trained through a state non-profit. A poll protector waits outside the polling place and watches for people who have had trouble voting. The poll protector is given a hotline phone number to volunteer lawyers trained in voting laws. The poll protector may also be reporting to a central number the length of the line, the ease of parking, etc. The poll protector is usually given a t-shirt and posters for identification. For more information: Election Protection | Stop Voter Suppression & Protect the Vote!

Many other volunteer opportunities are available, some that can be done from your living room. Non-profit organizations such as Volunteer with VoteRiders or VoteForward. These organizations can link to activities such as postcard writing, text banking, phone banking, and door-to-door canvassing. These are efforts shown to increase voter participation.

Check with the local branch of Vote Riders to assist with driving people to get their voter IDs if that is needed or to go vote in person at the polls.

Another overlooked method of participation is attending your County Board of Elections meetings. These boards make decisions on where precinct polling places are located, the hours and places for early voting, and even on how many voting machines are located at each precinct. The media often report on voting precincts that have long lines and hours of wait time to vote. Rarely if ever are these long lines and wait times located in wealthy or middle-class white parts of town. Reducing the number of polling places in communities composed of mostly Black, Latine, and low-income citizens has been shown to reduce and suppress voting in these communities. This does not happen by accident. In a second article, other non-partisan ways to get involved in the political process of voting will be discussed.

Every election is determined by the people who show up. Susan B. Anthony, women’s rights activist during the suffragette movement in the early 20th century, said: “Someone struggled for your right to vote. Use it.” Elections are also decided by laws that suppress votes or by laws that encourage voting.