"Lasting peace, while not theoretically impossible; is probably unattainable; even if it could be achieved, it would almost certainly not be in the best interests of a stable society to achieve it." - Report from Iron Mountain. Like most everything else in our modern world, the cost of peace has been rapidly soaring. There was a time when national peace and security (i.e., superior arms) could be purchased for comparatively paltry sums, but today the .annual cost of peace has reached into the multiple billions. Back in 1951, for example, the nations of the world spent a mere $300 million on foreign purchases of conventional weapons. In fiscal 1974, they laid out some $18 billion - a staggering 6,000% increase. Yet these figures represent only international arms purchases. Adding domestic "peace costs," we find the nations of the world are now spending $240 billion a year on "defense" and "world peace."
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