If war is a form of population control and economic stimulation then....?

Question

What will our population and economy eventually look like?

Think about it- The people that get into the services are ussally the brightest and the best. Now the people that stay home are the ones that can't pass high school or a pee test, are lazy, ignorant, or physically defective in some way. So what are we really doing when we send our brightest and best to fight in war. Should we really be sending our most deffective instead?

Or are we breeding supermen because the ones that come are smarter, stronger, are better able to handle stress. Or are they coming back shell-shocked, brain-dammaged, and physically perminatly damaged.

Now what are the economic advatages of war. More jobs maybe more millitary jobs, but a lot of the work is outsourced overseas, because of cheep labor. Stocks of corporations go up sure, but who flips the bill for a few people to get rich temporaily- we do. So more taxation without representation. More profits for corporations. What do you think?

Answer 1

Close. The people that get into the services are far from the best. The best are attending Harvard, Princeton, Yale, etc. The people joining the services are at least the ones that see a way out of a crappy life that they are in. In the past it is true about population and economics but now many issues have changed to change that. One, economically, The costs, corruption and out sourcing of manufacturing actually make it an economical nightmare. ( Now the USA has a 9 Trillion dollar deficit ) Two, with media at hand lives lost in wars will be far less significant than car crashes, disease, and even accidental homicide.

Answer 2

i always wonder why they didn't send all the gangsters over there...that would be a better route..I'm totally agree with you..

Answer 3

In my experience it's not mostly the best and the brightest who go to war.  There's a pretty healthy mix of all different people from all backgrounds, skill levels and education levels in the military, so I would disagree with your premise from the get-go.  Moreover, the percentage of population in the military--at least these days--is such a small number that it is insignificant from a natural selection perspective; i.e., it has no tangible effect on either existing talent levels within the states or overall genetic trends.

As far as the economy goes, I'm not quite sure, but it certainly doesn't appear to be working.  Military contracts are good for some corporations but war certainly doesn't help most industries, and when billions of dollars of government revenues are tied up in the war effort it leaves less and less to stimulate growth, create incentives or help people out back home.  So I'd have to say war is generally bad for the economy--a modern economy, anyway, one less based on on industrial and more on service and information, as compared to wars of the past.

Answer 4

Uh...not quite...not all the best and brightest get into the service - my son couldn't because of asthma and a heart murmer....but he's doing excellent in college....and there are those already in the service who will never make it past private......ther's a pretty good balance of smart and, er, the less-smart on each side.

As for econonomics.....yes, war brings more jobs, and that means more military work...but that work is given to private (civilian) companies....and most of that work actually does stay in the US....it's all part of government contracting....of course they're looking for the lowest bidders, but they keep defense at home, for most things....especially fabrication.  My husband's place of business gets LOTS of their contracts (sheetmetal work).

And we don't have taxation without representation anymore....it still hurts WITH the reps we have, but we are represented.

But you are right about the corporation profit.....that's getting out of control...more and more workers are being laid off, and cheaper materials are used so the stock holders can pocket a little more.......but that's all private companies, not military.