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Missoula physician urges converting military spending to civilian jobs; says peace dividend won’t arrive automatically
Summary
Dr. Beth Thompson told the Montana After Hours radio program that Montana sends roughly $1 billion a year in federal military-related spending out of the state while Great Falls receives about $300 million back, and she urged active programs for economic conversion, retraining and cleanup to capture a so-called "peace dividend."
Dr. Beth Thompson, a physician of internal medicine in Missoula and a newly elected member of the national board of Physicians for Social Responsibility, told the Montana After Hours radio program that Montana sends about $1 billion a year in federal military-related spending out of the state while roughly $300 million is returned to the Great Falls community and that active steps are needed to convert military expenditures to civilian jobs and services.
Thompson defined the peace dividend as "the freed up money's and economic capability that comes from a reduction in the arms race," and cautioned that the money will not automatically flow into civilian uses. "There will not be a peace dividend unless we actively work to get it," she said.
Thompson and host Michael Marsalek discussed several common beliefs about the peace dividend. Thompson said some military spending cuts have already occurred, but money is often redirected within the defense budget—for example, toward weapons with multiple warheads or conventional systems—so the net funds available for civilian programs can be smaller than people expect.
She described economic conversion as an active process that requires planning for retooling plants, retraining workers and reusing facilities. "The market will not take care of it without active, intervention on both government and individuals' efforts," Thompson said, adding that grassroots and local worker efforts have often driven conversion projects rather than federal initiatives.
On local and state impacts, Thompson cited figures she attributed to analyses discussed on the program: "In Montana, for example, a billion dollars goes out of Montana in terms of supporting, federal military spending. About 300,000,000 of that is returned to Great Falls only as in the community." She also referenced an Employment Research Associates analysis saying military spending cost Montana about 17,000 jobs between 1981 and 1985.
Thompson said environmental contamination on some former military sites complicates conversion. She said Physicians for Social Responsibility plans to focus attention on lead and other pollutants left by military operations, naming Rocky Flats and Hanford as examples of highly contaminated sites that can limit reuse without cleanup.
Thompson urged civic engagement as part of any effort to capture a peace dividend. She recommended constituents write and call elected officials, vote, and support local initiatives. "Writing your congressman, phoning the office, voting in the election...All of those kinds of means are available to us," she said.
The broadcast also pointed listeners to local sources of information and organizing, including the Jeannette Rankin Peace Center in Missoula, and repeated the program's call for public education and local action to influence federal and state budget choices.
