The problem is, military power does scale.
So to the extent that this is true, some governments are likely to become and remain quite big, and thus we have the question: do we want them democratic or authoritarian? I’d pick democratic and with a division of powers (and limited by a constitution to protect bedrock liberties).
Hans-Hermann Hoppe discusses why internally liberal states tend to be Imperialist powers and how the spirit of Democracy has contributed to the de-civilization in the conduct of war.
More specifically Hoppe explains the rise of the United States to the rank of the world’s foremost Imperial power, as a consequence of the transformation, from the beginnings of an Aristocratic Republic to a mass Democracy, and the role of the United States as an increasingly arrogant war monger. What stands in the way of peace and civilization is above all the state and democracy.
Lyn always a several moves ahead in every discussion 🫡
Continuing on your line of though (not disagreeing that democratic is definitely better than authoritarian).
Maybe if it's true that bitcoin will limit the forever wars of fiat, maybe this means that, under a bitcoin standard, even the biggest empires won't be as big as fiat money allows for.
