PC, I agree with you about Rumsfeld and defense contractors and the Pentagon. He’s moving the Army to be lighter and faster and for the forces to operate more ‘jointly.’ He’s invaluable in that role, and no one else has the credibility, intellect, guts, energy, and stamina to do such. I’m thrilled that he’s staying, because our military will be the better for it.
zk, I dunno, my work on predictors of future housing prices, correlation between home price increases and church attendance, quantification as to why we deserve a depression, etc. seemed pretty good, and were original work; I was impressed.
Woodrow, if you give me a specific threshold for ‘Those with the highest test scores and best grades hardly ever opt for military careers,’ e.g., top 1% or top 15% or upper half, I’ll be happy to dig up some statistics.
PC, we tried mandatory military service for all in the past — the draft — and civilians didn’t like it and the military didn’t like it. Nixon in fact adopted the idea championed by Friedman, of an all volunteer (you can call it mercenary, it doesn’t hurt my feelings) military. All volunteer works, and we should not go to the draft unless we have a major, major conflict.
JES, thanks for the backup with zk; I was busy earning my daily bread. Now, get back up on the mountain, sir!
To whomever complained about ‘broad brush’ comments: they’re fun and easy to make, and are a near-guarantee of a response!
