[Dean's World] Andrew Cory: On a completely different note:

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Posted by Andrew Cory:
On a completely different note:
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1161383700.shtml


   If everyone in a given society attempted to be a solider all at once,
   that society would quickly find itself without bullets, sans shoes,
   lacking food. A soldier consumes a great deal of resourcesâand is
   useful in keeping those resources productiveâbut does not add to a
   societyâs productivity**...

   Letâs take it one step further. Let us acknowledge that a smart
   soldier is significantly more effective than a dumb one. I read a
   study recently (canât seem to find it, damnit) which showed that an
   artillery piece crewed by soldiers with high IQs was able to fire more
   accurately and something like 2-4X faster than one crewed by soldiers
   with lower IQs...

   My question then is: (and I grant that Iâve not given all the data
   needed to answer it): how large a percent of its population can a
   society send into its military before that society starts to have a
   significant drag on itâs economy? Iâd think that you could send only
   about .5%-1% of the entire population. Anyone have thoughts?

   *Itâs tough to have an economy when your nation has just been taken
   over! ** letâs gloss over arguments about military R&D. Theyâre
   important, but not wholly relevant to my point.