Why It’s No Longer Possible for Any Country to Win a War
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Re: Why It’s No Longer Possible for Any Country to Win a War
#2Countries cannot profit by war perhaps but that won;t prevent wars. I don't think most wars are entered as the result of a cold economic calculation. They are caused by ancient programs written into our DNA before humans even evolved. So for the time being war is disincentivized by economics but I am confident we will eventually find reasons for a big war anyway
Re: Why It’s No Longer Possible for Any Country to Win a War
#3Countries cannot profit by war perhaps but that won;t prevent wars. I don't think most wars are entered as the result of a cold economic calculation. They are caused by ancient programs written into our DNA before humans even evolved. So for the time being war is disincentivized by economics but I am confident we will eventually find reasons for a big war anyway
> I don't think most wars are entered as the result of a cold economic calculation. They are caused by ancient programs written into our DNA before humans even evolved.
There are credible arguments that the Second Red Scare (which started after WWII) was the result of ruling classes in capitalist countries becoming afraid that they would be the victims of a proletariat revolution. A revolution like Cuba's would have been their worst nightmare.
That's perhaps not a cold economic calculation, but almost certainly an economic one.
There are also many Middle Eastern conflicts that the US is only involved in because we're afraid of losing access to oil.
Re: Why It’s No Longer Possible for Any Country to Win a War
#4Countries cannot profit by war perhaps but that won;t prevent wars. I don't think most wars are entered as the result of a cold economic calculation. They are caused by ancient programs written into our DNA before humans even evolved. So for the time being war is disincentivized by economics but I am confident we will eventually find reasons for a big war anyway
> I don't think most wars are entered as the result of a cold economic calculation. They are caused by ancient programs written into our DNA before humans even evolved. There are credible arguments that the Second Red Scare (which started after WWII) was the result of ruling classes in capitalist countries becoming afraid that they would be the victims of a proletariat revolution. A revolution like Cuba's would have…
are we though? Our alliance with Saudi Arabia was a calculation of that nature back around WWII. Recently though did the revolution in Iran cause a problem for our oil supplies? Is there a scenario in which a middle east war or lack of such war affects our access to oil?
Re: Why It’s No Longer Possible for Any Country to Win a War
#5The author of this article is both dishonest and hopelessly naive. He's redefined war to mean "conquest" and "winning" to mean "come out ahead financially", which isn't always or even usually the point of war.
And even if it was he's still wrong. Land itself has value, and with sufficient brutality you can still "win". The fact that we haven't seen a war like that since 1945 in the developed world doesn't mean it's not going to happen again. Hitler planned to basically kill everyone to the east of Germany and replace them with Germans. That would have been "winning" by any definition of the word.
Re: Why It’s No Longer Possible for Any Country to Win a War
#6That's a very dangerous line of thinking. Before WW1 the same argument was made because the world was supposed to be too connected by trade.
Re: Why It’s No Longer Possible for Any Country to Win a War
#7Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I don't think most wars are entered as the result of a cold economic calculation. They are caused by ancient programs written into our DNA before humans even evolved. There are credible arguments that the Second Red Scare (which started after WWII) was the result of ruling classes in capitalist countries becoming afraid that they would be the victims of a proletariat revolution. A revolution like Cuba's would have…
are we though? Our alliance with Saudi Arabia was a calculation of that nature back around WWII. Recently though did the revolution in Iran cause a problem for our oil supplies? Is there a scenario in which a middle east war or lack of such war affects our access to oil?
The "war for oil" thing is looking at the wrong end of the telescope. The problem in the middle east is oil gives the rulers of these countries a way to purchase security organizations and strong militaries they could never afford based on normal economies. It's not just the middle east, either - it's also places like Nigeria and Venezuela.
Re: Why It’s No Longer Possible for Any Country to Win a War
#8One can say that nuclear weapons have been the biggest peacemaker known to man. It's hard to imagine another World War since the advent of such weapons. Furthermore, the nuclear weapons today wield a power that cannot even be compared to the ones that were dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. I don't think any superpower today wants another global war knowing that it would spell total annihilation for all those involved.
We also shouldn't discount that the world today has so much more globalization. Just about every country has become interdependent on each other.
Re: Why It’s No Longer Possible for Any Country to Win a War
#9That's a very dangerous line of thinking. Before WW1 the same argument was made because the world was supposed to be too connected by trade.
It's simply not on the same level as today. Germany during WW1 didn't have any trade by sea for example.
Re: Why It’s No Longer Possible for Any Country to Win a War
#10That's a very dangerous line of thinking. Before WW1 the same argument was made because the world was supposed to be too connected by trade.
It's simply not on the same level as today. Germany during WW1 didn't have any trade by sea for example.
Maybe. I still think saying that nobody is stupid enough to start a war is a recipe for disaster.