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Crippled By History
Why the United Kingdom’s defense spending is hopelessly unfit for purpose
Systems tend to perpetuate themselves, and so nations that have a reasonably long history tend to perpetuate various myths and social structures long after those myths and structures have ceased to have utility. As the UK has a fairly long history, it’s not surprising that a great many modern challenges are seen through the eyes of the past and consequently that very low-quality decisions are made.
Britain is an island, and as trade routes began to expand around half a millennia ago this meant that boats became rather important. European nations vied with each other to produce ever-more-impressive fleets by means of which to carry lucrative cargo and as our appetite for wealth is insatiable various European nations also sponsored voyages of discovery intended to further extend opportunities for trade, whether by finding new commodities or by finding faster routes. Unfortunately, our insatiable appetite for wealth also meant that some preferred to acquire wealth by means of theft rather than by means of trade, and so piracy became once again a major problem. In order to protect trade, countries created national navies that could to a limited extent deter piracy both by independent buccaneers and by competing nations. And so military hierarchies arose that far…
