Peace and Justice Vigil: Earth Day to May Day

Date/Time
Date(s) - 05/01/2021
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

Location
Corner of Main St and Illinois Ave

Categories No Categories

The Peace Coalition of Southern Illinois will hold the Monthly Peace and Justice Vigil on Saturday, May 1, 2021, noon to 1 P.M. at the corner of Main and Illinois Ave., Carbondale.

We will focus on the theme: EARTH DAY TO MAY DAY: STOP CLIMATE CHAOS AND END THE WAR ON PEOPLE AND THE PLANET!

The May vigil falls within the GLOBAL DAYS OF ACTION ON MILITARY SPENDING.

According to the Global Campaign on Military Spending, global cost of the military is $2 trillion, half of which is from the U.S. But all that money could not stop a microscopic virus from sickening and killing millions, and shuttering businesses with devastating job losses worldwide. The major threats to our security cannot be stopped with troops and bombs. We need to rethink national security and redirect funding from the military to prevention, repair, and care and to addressing the real crisis created by man-made climate change.
The 2021 budget for the Pentagon and related agencies is $741 billion, larger than the next eight countries combined, 11 times greater than Russia’s military budget and four times the size of China’s military expenditures. This year Congress voted to increase the military budget by $30 billion, an amount that exceeds the entire budget of the Environmental Protection Agency.
In 2021 we will spend over $2 billion a day on the U.S. military, more than a million dollars every minute. By cutting even a portion of the Pentagon budget, we could:
—Eradicate homelessness in the United States ($20 billion annually)
—Eradicate hunger in the United States ($26 billion annually)
—Create 160,000 new clean energy jobs ($12 billion annually)
—Guarantee tuition-free education ($70 billion annually)
—Transition to a Medicare for All System ($300 billion annually)
The vigil will follow masking and physical distancing guidelines. Appropriate signs will be provided, but all are invited to bring their own. The monthly meeting will be held on ZOOM on May 19, 6pm. For information about joining, email georgeannhartzog@gmail.com.