RE: Re: Moonson

From: Gareth Martin <gamartin_at_...>
Date: Mon, 9 Apr 2001 09:45:02 +0100

> When resources get more abundant, trading is easier and agreement
> tends to substitute violence.
> Just an opinion, as I said. And a debatable one, of course.

I think that warfare is always expensive, but that the people carrying it out can pass the cost on to others. Generals do not pay the costs of burned buildings, evicted peasants, or commandeered food. These costs of warfare are born by ordinary people, while the perpetrators extort "reparations" after the fact. Warfare is economically viable if you are strong enough to make sure that others bear the costs and you get the benefits.

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