On 6/26/07, Julio Huato <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
We need to think of efficiency in the broadest sense, as optimal human wellbeing. If protecting oneself against violence is not unrelated to human wellbeing, then the efficiency criterion is germane to the ability to wage war, defensive and offensive -- just as it is to the ability to satisfy hunger or the desire for beauty.
No matter how "we" think of efficiency, a country can be very efficient at destroying others without being efficient in the broadest sense. Being most efficient in general may encourage military might: it could be argued that the US has one of the most efficient economies. It thus has enough of a surplus that it can afford to waste a lot of it on the military (more than most countries), which can be used to "waste" other countries. On the other hand, military efficiency does not automatically imply efficiency in general. In 1940, for example, the Germans (arguably) were much more efficient than France in military matters. But wasn't France more efficient at serving its population's wants and needs at that time? -- Jim Devine / "Bong Hits 4 Jesus."
