I have recently been wading slowly through J R Saul's ox-stunning volume Voltaire's Bastards, which contains a lucid and hence appalling chapter on the logic by which governments conclude that weapons manufacture is the key to economic and political well-being. of course centring one's economy on weapons production produces neither economic nor political well-being, but it does produce enormous opportunities for graft, fraud, nepotism, and personal enrichment... which makes the dysfunctional logic hard to challenge or replace. recommended reading, ch 6 and 7, "The Flowering of Armaments" and "The Question of Killing".
I don't know yet how much I like the entire argument presented in the book; I'm instinctively in sympathy with his critique of Taylorism and technomanagerial zealotry, but otoh Jefferson-worship (of which I think he could reasonably stand accused) rubs me the wrong way. but I'll give JRS his due and read the rest of it before passing any judgments. certainly an interesting read -- I liked his coverage of the Corsican Republic, for example, an historical event that was certainly not featured in my schoolroom days :-) I also like his nuanced view: elites are trapped by their own logic, in addition to being divorced from reality and in some cases nasty people. his ruthless portrait of Macnamara alone may be worth the price of the volume (used, anyway). The difference between theory and practise in practise ...
When I first read it (back in high school) it struck me as a ludicrous caricature. These days, though... not so much.
But Orwell clearly underestimated the ability of consumerism to artificially inflate demand in lockstep with increasing labour productivity. And he clearly overestimated the desire of a rich, well-fed population to reach for political emancipation.
- Jake If you only spend 20 minutes of the rest of your life on economics, go spend them here.
