Dear God, really?

[conuly]

How much hyperbole are they engaging in, here? Because if the numbers really add up that way, I'm even more pissed, if possible, than I already was at the needless deaths goin' on!

Wonder how many solar ovens could be bought for $3 trillion.

Edit: That is to say "Is the cost of the war really that high? I honestly had not been paying any attention at all!" rather than "Could we honestly have done this much shit instead?" because, as noted in comments - who can tell?

Comments

[worldmage.livejournal.com]

That's a whole lot of hyperbole. How would you even begin to calculate something like that?

[conuly]

Don't know. The cost of the Iraq War does seem to be pretty fucking high, though. (Then again, this may be on par for wars. I am wondering what else we could have spent that money on now. This is a subject I've *avoided* thinking of, you understand.

[worldmage.livejournal.com]

It's not really on par for wars, per se, especially not for ones we're involved in. What's really cost us so damn much is the occupation and reconstruction, and it could have cost a LOT less if the Bushies had bothered letting companies bid for contracts instead of giving them to their corporate buddies.

It's definitely true that $3 trillion is an unimaginably huge amount of money, though. Just $1 trillion is more than the entire world's military expenditures in 2004 combined. $1 trillion would buy an entire year's worth of oil for the US. I just call bullshit on "solving the climate crisis" since we have no idea what that even entails at this point.

[conuly]

I just call bullshit on "solving the climate crisis" since we have no idea what that even entails at this point.

Reasonable enough.

$1 trillion would buy an entire year's worth of oil for the US.

If some sites are to be believed, one trillion could go a long way towards reducing our oil consumption altogether.

[worldmage.livejournal.com]

I'm not completely certain of that. I mean, it certainly couldn't hurt to have that much money going into alternative energy research and to have the money available to throw at efforts to convert our energy infrastructure if a suitable alternative is found. But I think it's more likely the solution will have to include severe changes in our lifestyles since it's highly uncertain we'll ever find something that could truly replace oil such that we could maintain our current levels of energy consumption. Unfortunately, money can't do much to make people change their behavior that way. =\

Money can definitely help, but it can't solve everything.

[worldmage.livejournal.com]

That's a whole lot of hyperbole. How would you even begin to calculate something like that?

[conuly]

Don't know. The cost of the Iraq War does seem to be pretty fucking high, though. (Then again, this may be on par for wars. I am wondering what else we could have spent that money on now. This is a subject I've *avoided* thinking of, you understand.

[worldmage.livejournal.com]

It's not really on par for wars, per se, especially not for ones we're involved in. What's really cost us so damn much is the occupation and reconstruction, and it could have cost a LOT less if the Bushies had bothered letting companies bid for contracts instead of giving them to their corporate buddies.

It's definitely true that $3 trillion is an unimaginably huge amount of money, though. Just $1 trillion is more than the entire world's military expenditures in 2004 combined. $1 trillion would buy an entire year's worth of oil for the US. I just call bullshit on "solving the climate crisis" since we have no idea what that even entails at this point.

[conuly]

I just call bullshit on "solving the climate crisis" since we have no idea what that even entails at this point.

Reasonable enough.

$1 trillion would buy an entire year's worth of oil for the US.

If some sites are to be believed, one trillion could go a long way towards reducing our oil consumption altogether.

[worldmage.livejournal.com]

I'm not completely certain of that. I mean, it certainly couldn't hurt to have that much money going into alternative energy research and to have the money available to throw at efforts to convert our energy infrastructure if a suitable alternative is found. But I think it's more likely the solution will have to include severe changes in our lifestyles since it's highly uncertain we'll ever find something that could truly replace oil such that we could maintain our current levels of energy consumption. Unfortunately, money can't do much to make people change their behavior that way. =\

Money can definitely help, but it can't solve everything.