Monday, March 15, 2021

 These companies are in the business of making weapons. Not just pistols and rifles, but also tanks, jets, and rockets.

As wars continue and more people are feeling insecure around the world, business is flourishing.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) looked into which arms companies were making the most money.
These are the top 25 arms manufacturers around the world, according to 2017 data.
25. Rheinmetall (Germany): $3.4 billion
24. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (Japan): $3.5 billion
23. Tactical Missiles Corp. (Russia): $3.5 billion
22. General Electric (US): $3.8 billion
21. Booz Allen Hamilton (US): $4 billion
20. Textron (USA): $4.1 billion
19. Naval Group (France): $4.1 billion
18. Leidos (US): $4.3 billion
17. Rolls-Royce (UK): $4.4 billion
16. Honeywell International (US): $4.6 billion
15. United Shipbuilding Corp. (Russia): $4.9 billion
14. United Aircraft (Russia): $6.4 billion
13. Huntington Ingalls Industries (US): $6.8 billion
12. L3 Technologies (US): $7.7 billion
11. United Technologies Corp. (US): $7.7 billion
10. Almaz-Antey (Russia): $8.5 billion
9. Leonardo (Italy): $8.8 billion
8. Thales (France): $9 billion
7. Airbus group (Trans-European): $11.2 billion
6. General Dynamics Corp. (US): $19.4 billion
5. Northrop Grumman Corp. (US): $22.3 billion
4. BAE Systems (UK): $22.9 billion
3. Raytheon (US): $23.8 billion
2. Boeing (US): $26.9 billion
1. Lockheed Martin Corp. (USA): $44.9 billion

A certain level of national defense is required. But we are failing around the world as human beings, to care for and about each other, and address our more basic needs. Billions without basic needs being filled: food, shelter, water, medicine, dental and eye care, high death rates, short life spans, lack of sewers, paved roads, electricity, running water. We simply have got to do better, and donating monthly to the combined federal campaign and United Way and the Red Cross isn't going to cut it. Space war has already started, despite the words we enscribed on a plaque we set on the moon all those years ago. I am tired of war. I am tired of living under a nuclear threat that continues to grow worse around the globe. I am quite tired of it all, the rationalizations, the excuses, the deaths, the suffering.

Five of the top six are American companies that, granted, employ a great number of people, directly and indirectly. To what end?


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