---
title: 'The True Cost of War'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=uVlMWVP5GJk'
video_id: 'uVlMWVP5GJk'
date: 2026-08-28
duration_sec: 72
channel: 'Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell'
---

# The True Cost of War

> Source: [The True Cost of War](https://youtube.com/watch?v=uVlMWVP5GJk)

## Summary

This video breaks down the hidden and long-term economic costs of war, revealing that the true price extends far beyond immediate military spending. It highlights the devastating impact on land, economies, and the psychological and genetic well-being of future generations.

### Key Points

- **Direct Military Spending** [00:03] — Tanks, planes, and other military equipment alone cost the world almost $3 trillion a year, with additional hundreds of billions added to the bill.
- **Environmental and Agricultural Damage** [00:19] — War destroys the land itself. Unexploded ordnance and drone fiber optic cables can cost up to $1,000 each to remove, leaving farmland unusable.
- **Economic Fallout and Inflation** [00:33] — Businesses go bankrupt, investors flee, and government responses trigger inflation that erodes civilian savings, leaving countries and their people on average 12% poorer.
- **Impact on Younger Generations** [00:46] — Younger generations, who make up around 40% of war refugees, fall years behind as schools are destroyed. The brain drain from those who leave can cost countries billions of dollars.
- **Psychological and Genetic Trauma** [01:00] — War leads to depression and trauma, with rates of mental health issues being three times more likely. Trauma is literally passed on to children in their DNA, and countries that go to war once are more likely to do so again.

### Conclusion

War's true cost is not just in immediate military spending but in the long-term destruction of land, economies, and the psychological and genetic well-being of future generations, ultimately killing the future itself.

## Transcript

tanks, and planes alone cost the world almost $3 trillion a year. But [music] adds hundreds of billions more to the bill. And costs can stack up long after the bombs stop [music] falling. War destroys the land itself. When
cost [music] up to $1,000 each to remove, or drone fiber optic cables, they're left unfarmable. Businesses go bankrupt and investors flee. [music] Meanwhile, government responses trigger inflation that eats up civilian savings.
countries and [music] their people end up on average 12% poorer. But some of the greatest costs are carried by the younger generations who make up around 40% of war refugees. Those who stay fall
years behind as schools [music] are destroyed. Those who can leave, and this brain drain can make countries billions of dollars poorer. But the costs of war [music] and depression around three times more likely. Trauma is literally
passed on to kids in their DNA. And worse, countries that go to war once are So, war doesn't just destroy the present, it also kills the future.