This is a continuing series publishing questions asked via our contact page or elsewhere. If you have a question about Copiosis, use the contact page and we’ll answer your question, then perhaps post a blog about it and include it in our Q&A page.
How will military get funding? I personally consider military spending wasteful. What will happen to all the soldiers and military employees? There is no reason for having big armies anymore, but I cannot imagine that countries will relinquish for their military, because it gives them a feeling of power and for lots of people especially in countries like USA it is vital to have all these weapons. How can transition happen here? In my opinion the algorithm will produce negative NBR for all kinds of violent or aggressive actions, if not, it has an intrinsic error. So humans working in such jobs cannot be rewarded for their professions and need to look for more “profitable” (useful) jobs. I think this is one of the key questions, especially USA, Germany and a handful of other countries are dependent of their military industries.
This is an interesting question. First, let’s examine an assumption you’re making, that many make. It is not absolute that some things are totally negative. Guns and armies are examples. World War II, while tragic in its devastation, had the net benefit of averting a genocidal fascist regime intent on world domination and destruction of natural human diversity. So that war had beneficial outcomes along with the destruction it caused. Many people (not just soldiers) contributed to fighting Nazi Germany, including women working in manufacturing companies, and others who worked building ships and munitions to keep the allies supplied.
In some instances guns provide benefits in many ways. They offer recreation, community, a sense of personal security. In some cases, they do save lives.
In this new economy’s early stages, things could go “bad” for a while if, for example, several European nations decide to leave the EU, go Copiosis and create so much economic havoc that the remaining EU states go to war against those states to try to keep them in line.
So all this war materiel, while it seems like a waste to you, actually isn’t. Some rightly argue that even a powerful army never goes to war, investments in that army are well spent if said investments keep other countries from attacking the well-prepared army.
We agree. Hostile states are less likely to attack a country with a powerful, well-prepared standing army.
No human action is wasted
There are some people whose passions include military service and defense. Their contribution must benefit humanity because all passions do. When channeled via the net benefit concept we can recognize that value, measure it like any other human act, and reward the actors.
Even if the entire world goes Copiosis all those people passionate about military technical know-how, all that discipline, all that wealth could be turned towards the stars. There’s so much knowledge and skill and technical expertise, and tens of millions of personnel in all those entities…they could easily become humanity’s space exploration component.
Meantime, armies will still be needed. Dictators, drug lords, the oil monarchies and organized criminal families probably will try destroying Copiosis. There still might be tensions between Arabs and Jews and between communists (China mainly) and their neighbors. Same goes for Pakistan and India….these conflicts will remain for some time. Even if everyone involved gets their necessities provided and they can do anything and receive NBR.
Someday those conflicts will end. When they do the stars are a great mission for all these people. Their discipline, rigor, passion and esprit de corps is perfect for such adventures.
The power nations enjoy from having armies is based in insecurity. “Power” is always a knee-jerk reaction to feeling insecure. And as you can see, few nations have no armies. Our expectation is, over time, people in nations gain more security, find less need to vilify other nations’ people, and in that easing, find more in common with one another than that which divides us.