Martin Luther King Jr. wasn’t speaking rhetorically when he urged the U.S. to “undergo a radical revolution of values.” In fact, he spoke quite plainly when he declared that “a nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.” Fifty-five years later, our nation’s triple evils that King so famously promulgated — racism, poverty and militarism — manifest in President Joe Biden’s most significant value statement: his budget.
Widely considered a wish list, a spending package is a reflection of a president’s policy priorities — who gets what, when and why. “My dad has an expression,” Biden quipped as he introduced his 2023 budget. “He said, ‘don’t tell me what you value, show me your budget and I’ll tell you what you value.’”
Shalanda Young, Office of Management and Budget Director, echoed this sentiment. “Budgets are value statements. They’re about the kind of country we want to be and the type of future we want to leave our kids.”
But a close look at Biden’s latest proposed budget makes clear the only future our children will inherit is one with a bloated military budget, racist policing, widespread indebtedness and an uninhabitable planet.
Consider violent policing, surveillance and arrest: Despite a growing call from organizers across the country to do so, Defund police by redirecting resources from militarized, anti-Black police departments to programs like free transit, health care infrastructure or wellness resources, Biden is doubling down on his not-so-data-driven “tough on crime” approach — sending the police even more federal money than before. Biden’s 2023 budget would allocate at least $30 billion in new police spending — a gut punch to the millions of voices around the country that have decried the enormous spending on police departments, especially since the police-perpetrated murder of George Floyd.
Under the false guise of “security,” Biden claimed the answer is “not to defund our police departments” but “to fund our police and give them all the tools they need.” Los Angeles County and New York City, the highest-funded law enforcement jurisdictions, show exactly what happens when you give police more money: they spend it doing more of what they have always done. They buy more military equipment, they conduct more surveillance, and they arrest more and more people.
A mountain of evidence dating back decades shows efforts to “community police” or increase police accountability and transparency with materials like body cameras are simply not ways to reduce crime. In reality, better outcomes have never been achieved by more police resources. 2001 saw record numbers. research from 200 empirical studiesIncreased policing was found to be a key factor in crime rates and policing. The weakestThese are all factors that can be used to reduce crime and improve life. The most important predictors of crime are resource deprivation (poor and family disruption), and social isolation. Additionally, increased solidarity, shared goals, and common projects in a neighbourhood are more effective than increased policing. Studies have also shown a strong correlation in crime reduction and improved access to justice. health care.
(Even so, we must be careful in any discussion of the effects on “crime” rates from policing or anything else. Alec Karakatsanis has eloquently outlined. arguedThis is because the definition of crime is often not examined in these discussions. It is often framed in a way that tilts the scale towards enforcement and police. If we could instead quantify harm independent of “crime,” we would likely see an even stronger case against more police and for “programs of social uplift,” to borrow a phrase from Dr. King.)
Organizers have been abundantly clear on this for decades, arguing that shoveling money into a violent, repressive, racist system is never going to make it less violent, repressive or racist — and that goes for the military, too.
President Biden proposed a defense spending bill of a whopping $813 billion — a 4 percent increase — totaling more than the defense budgets of the next 11 countries combined.Instead of addressing the climate crisis, Biden prioritized funding and strengthening the military-industrial complex. the Pentagon, the world’s largest consumer of fossil fuels. Far from being a simple defense force, the U.S. military exists to allow the commission of extreme violence in any corner of the globe at a moment’s notice. That neither represents the values to which we aspire, nor meaningfully benefits anyone in the United States — outside of perhaps a handful of powerful corporations with multinational holdings.
If President Biden wanted a budget that reflected a genuine interest in meeting communities’ material needs, creating safety and improving the lives of working people, he would prioritize funding programs of social uplift. Crucially, this would include — but not be limited to — education.
President Biden proposed funding universal preschool, but there’s no reason to stop there. Education is a lifelong endeavor that everyone has a right and a right. There’s no reason education must start at age 5 and end promptly at 18. Education at all levels is essential if we are to create informed and engaged citizens. This includes pre-school, elementary, high schools, and all levels of higher education. That means student debt can be canceled. never should have existedIt would have been better if we had started from the beginning.
Education is only one part of the puzzle. We can and should do more to give people a stake in their own lives and in their communities. To “build a better America,” as Biden claims he wants to do, he should fund paid leave and child care before preschool. We could also fund health care and remove the moral stain of medical loan from our collective conscience. We could increase unemployment benefits, fund job training programs, increase cash assistance and fund art and community centres, add parks and nature preserves, etc.
A budget is a reflection on values. By increasing money to police and the military, the president’s budget reflects the values of violence, brutality, racism and hopelessness. In Dr. King’s words, we are lying on our spiritual deathbed — but fortunately we have a cure. CODEPINK and other grassroots organizations are examples of this. working tirelessly to cut the Pentagon budget, end militarism and “redirect our tax dollars into healthcare, education, green jobs and other life-affirming programs.”
Amazing policy-specific projects are being created by community organizers across the country. #8toAbolition — laying the groundwork needed to “reduce the scale, scope, power, authority, and legitimacy of criminalizing institutions.” The Poor People’s CampaignAnd the Debt CollectiveThey are united in calling for an end of systemic poverty and a national celebration to wipe out all American household debts. This significant value statement can be reinterpreted to support education and empowerment, community and hopefulness. This would only require that the White House shows some love to the public and prioritize justice.
