Question

Do you think countries should spend money in building arms and ammunitions or invest in the development of infrastructure? Comment.

Answer 1

Undoubtedly, there needs to be a certain degree of arms proliferation in all countries in order to secure their borders from external or internal threats. However, when the military budget of countries like the USA, the world´s largest power, is far greater than the budget destined to meet other needs of the State, these latter ones are unavoidably neglected, to the detriment of the country´s people. On the other hand, if a greater budget is destined to the building of infrastructure, history shows —like in Japan and Germany— that the economy becomes less dependent on warfare and relies more on human capital and culture.

The question then becomes whether economic gain through arms proliferation is more advantageous to the welfare of the people or if the wellbeing of the people —through the building of infrastructure— is more beneficial to any given government. Since the wellbeing of the people is, in principle —based on the International Bill of Human Rights—, the aim of all countries, these should be more preoccupied with the building of infrastructure.