A Work in Progress

The Existence of a Military Entails that the Head of State Wage War
A One against All and All against One Mentality
Its Effects within the Systems of Governments and Economies
by Edwin L. Young, PhD
August 8, 2009

Imagine that you are a Head of State, like a King or President, in ancient Egypt, Rome, Persia, or Turkey.  As they all did, you would have an Army.  What does and Army do?  It fights.  It does not plant crops, transport cargo, or build houses.  It fights.  If there are no battles or wars going on, then what do they do?  They have no tasks to perform other than practicing fighting skills.  They, that is to say young, strong, virile males, have lots of idle time.  They will get rowdy, look for women to seduce, get drunk, fight among themselves, or pillage the village.  The King and his commanders cannot let this go on for long or they will lose the support of the rest of their people.  If there is a battle, the soldiers get organized and motivated and set their minds on conquest.  A war solves the problem of having unruly soldiers disturbing the villagers.  When they go off to war, they live off the produce of villages along the way and, therefore, the people at home have ample goods.  If the army wins, the winners return with the spoils, which are wealth, women, and slaves taken from the conquered.

War is a King’s good friend.  Winning and garnering the riches of the conquered is the King’s best friend.  Losing, not so good!

If there are no wars, how does the King keep the rowdiness of the troops under control?  He maintains a strong police force.  When troops are not deployed and are getting rowdy, they do not act as an organized army.  They act as individuals or small groups, like gangs.  They police are numerous enough, organized, and therefore can overcome a single offender or small group. 

In times of peace, when troops are not deployed nor gainfully employed in the community, their consumption of goods creates a scarcity for the village people and causes the people to work harder to keep up with the increased demand and scarcity increases costs.

In modern America