War Costs the Average Person $74,259 Over Their Lifetime

War costs you $74,259 over your lifetime. That's not a metaphor. That's actual money taken from things you could use. Here's the math.

War is when countries fight each other with weapons. This costs money because weapons are expensive and also because destroying things is expensive. When you add up all the expensive things, it equals $74,259 per person. That's more than a car. We could have bought everyone a car, but instead we bought bombs.

What War Costs Annually

Direct costs: $4,993 billion per year

$1,981 billion - Military spending (salaries, weapons, operations)
$521 billion - Economic impact of conflict (destroyed property, displaced people)
$1,875 billion - Infrastructure destruction (roads, bridges, utilities destroyed during war)
$616 billion - Trade and investment disruption (wars interrupt business)

Indirect costs: $2,245 billion per year

$1,000 billion - Human deaths (using statistical value of life)
$200 billion - Veteran healthcare (ongoing medical care and rehabilitation)
$100 billion - Psychological impacts (PTSD, depression, anxiety treatment)
$300 billion - Lost human capital (dead people can't work)
$100 billion - Environmental degradation (cleanup and restoration)
$150 billion - Refugee support (shelter, food, healthcare for displaced people)

Total annual cost: $7,238 billion

That's $7.2 trillion. Every year. Forever.

Maybe to understand war spending, we have to look at the word "forever" itself. It's made up of "for" and "ever." "For" means in exchange for something, and "ever" means always. So "forever" means always exchanging something. What we're exchanging is $7.2 trillion for wars. We do this every year. That's why it's forever.

What This Costs You

Global population: 7.8 billion people Average lifespan: 80 years

Annual cost per person: $7,238 billion ÷ 7.8 billion = $928.24

Lifetime cost per person: $928.24 × 80 years = $74,259

You pay $74,259 over your lifetime for wars. You don't get a vote. You don't get a refund. You just pay.

Division is when you take a big number and split it into smaller numbers. We divided $7.2 trillion by 7.8 billion people and discovered that each person pays $928 per year. Then we multiplied by 80 years because that's how long people live, unless they die in a war, which costs extra.

If We Reduced War By 1% Per Year

Imagine war costs decreased by 1% annually for 80 years. Small, achievable reductions through better peacekeeping and resource allocation.

Cumulative savings over 80 years: $179 trillion

Per capita savings: $22,970 per person

By making tiny improvements each year, you save $23,000. That's a car. That's a down payment on a house. That's four years of groceries. Currently, it's bombs.

A 1% reduction means doing 1% less war. I think we could achieve this by having 1% fewer explosions per year. Or by making bombs that are 1% smaller. Or by invading 1% fewer countries. There are many ways to do 1% less war, but currently we're doing 100% war, which is the maximum amount.

If We Spent War Money On Healthcare Instead

Take the $179 trillion we'd save over 80 years. Spend it on healthcare research and AI-powered clinical trials.

Assumptions:

50% increase in R&D efficiency (AI makes research faster and cheaper)
50 million lives saved (breakthrough treatments for major diseases)
500 million disability years reduced (people live healthier, longer)
5% productivity increase (healthy people work better)

Economic benefits:

$268,745 billion - Effective healthcare innovation value
$500,000 billion - Value of lives saved
$25,000 billion - Value of reduced disability
$320,000 billion - Increased productivity

Total benefit: $1,113,745 billion

Per capita benefit: $142,788 per person

You currently pay $74,259 for war. You could instead receive $142,788 in healthcare benefits. That's a $217,047 swing. Per person.

Healthcare is when you give people medicine so they don't die from diseases. War is when you give people bombs so they do die from explosions. Currently we spend more money on the dying part than the not-dying part. This seems backwards, but I'm not an economist.

How To Do This In 5 Hours

Historical data shows petitions with 1% population support have high adoption rates. Here's how to get there:

Average meaningful relationships: 150 people (Dunbar's number) Time per message: 2 minutes (personal email or message) Total time: 150 × 2 minutes = 300 minutes = 5 hours

Cost-benefit analysis:

Time invested: 5 hours
Return: $142,788
Hourly rate: $28,558

That's $28,558 per hour to write emails to friends explaining why we should stop spending money on killing people and start spending it on not dying from diseases.

An hourly rate is how much money you make per hour. Most people make between $10 and $50 per hour. But if you send emails about reducing war, you make $28,558 per hour. This is the best job in the world, except it's not technically a job, it's just math about money you're already losing to bombs.

What You Actually Do

Here's the instruction manual:

Calculate your personal war cost
- Annual cost: $928
- Lifetime cost: $74,259
- Money you could save: $22,970
- Healthcare benefit you could gain: $142,788
Draft your message
- Include specific numbers from this article
- Explain the personal financial impact
- Link to treaty or petition supporting military reduction
- Make it 2 minutes to read
Send to your 150 contacts
- Personal email works better than social media
- Customize slightly for each person
- Track who responds
- Follow up once
Track the result
- If 1% of population supports this, policy typically changes
- Monitor petition signatures
- Contact representatives with numbers
- Reference specific budget line items

The Math Is Simple

Current system:

You pay: $74,259
You get: Wars

Alternative system:

You pay: $51,289 (after 1% annual reduction)
You save: $22,970
Healthcare investment return: $142,788
Net benefit to you: $217,047

The math requires third-grade arithmetic. The choice requires action.

Sources

Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) - Military Expenditure Database
Institute for Economics and Peace - Global Peace Index
World Bank - Economic Impact of Conflict Studies
Congressional Research Service - Veteran Healthcare Costs
WHO - Global Health Expenditure Database
National Priorities Project - Military Spending Analysis