Do you know how many zeroes there are in a trillion? You’ll probably pause to count, too. Various sites say that “we could wrap the earth about 4700 times with 1-trillion one-dollar bills laid end to end around the globe.” Mind-boggling, isn’t it? Do you know how much was spent on war weapons in the entire world last year? A staggering $1.464 trillion, 42% of which was spent by the United States. Has that huge amount bought peace? Far from it. Wars continue across the globe – casualties keep piling up, millions more are widowed, orphaned, and displaced from their homes and livelihood. The only people who are benefiting from these wars are arms manufacturers such as US companies Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Northrop Grumman Corporation, who are raking in so much Ismael Hossein-zadeh has called it income redistribution, from the poor to the rich.

It does not take much brain power to realize that money spent on war would achieve more if it’s spent to educate people how to help themselves, thus putting an end to ignorance, alleviating poverty, and providing solution to world hunger. For this reason, the World March is being prepared right now to campaign for peace and non-violence. I am privileged to be working with some volunteers to localize the site for Filipino audiences (thank you, Thelma and Conny, for permission to use the images) and now, there’s only 64 days to go before the March officially begins “in New Zealand on October 2, 2009 … [and] will conclude in the Andes Mountains (Punta de Vacas, Aconcagua, Argentina) on January 2, 2010” following this route:

The March, which aims to send an echo across the globe that people want peace, not war, is expected to be participated in by a million people, with 10 million participating virtually via the World Wide Web. Read more about the event and let’s say no to war and violence by endorsing the March here.

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