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I would answer in the affirmative. The great surges of technology develop were largely driven by the ability to wage war. The wars in Europe in the 17th century, Napoleonic War, Crimean War, American Civil War, WWI, Spanish Civil War, WWII, Cold 'War', Iraq War 1 and 2. Technologies/developments such as fortified cities, gunpowder, metal ships, gunpowder, medical technology, aviation, sonar, nuclear technology, computing (the internet was a military thing) were in part due to warfare.
Of course war and conflict are but one piece of the puzzle, but I think without war we'd still be living in a stone or at least bronze age existence. In some ways this might be better, and I'm not saying we should thank war or war is a good thing, but one can't deny it's contribution to the development of technology and civilisation.
To flip the question, if we didn't have to spend so much time, energy, and resources on defending ourselves from each other, what could we have accomplished?
It is back to the saying "necessity is the mother of all inventions".
While I do not think we would be in the Bronze age, I do think that we would be without many things we have now.
There was not a consumer demand for many things we have now due to war, because the knowledge of such things and the necessity was not there to create consumer demand to begin with.
Well, anyone with a basic understanding of humanity and its history knows that is true.
Liberals! They will say "if only we could live life according to a peaceful co-existence", we would what? Live on Mars now and whatever else? But then look at what they do. They have systematically waged war on all fronts they care about (undermining society, altering culture rapidly without a sense of responsibility for themselves and entrusting bureaucracy to care-take everyone) so it is obvious they have no clue other than from a textbook as to what they are about and who they really are. Biology to them is a theory, not a living fact. Society is an experimental project, not an organic organism comprised of many people living together in a diverse environment. Notice how they say they hate confrontation then become passive-aggresive when convenient? When you haphazardly train a generation of people with activist professors hateful of anyone who collects wealth to engage in class warfare but withhold the reasons they wage it, you get fools rushing in like terrorists with bomb vests, ready to explode with charming tirades at the slightest look.
But financial markets are the new battlegrounds. The fact that they want to pay into a government that will coddle them sufficiently while the corporation orders the same government around... sums up liberals of today and what they stand for.
Liberals want to return to idyllic farms but want them civilized and urban, full of tech to keep them at ease and dreamy.
Look at some of Detroit's neighborhoods. Looks pretty rural and ready for agrarian endeavors to me.
Look at some of Detroit's neighborhoods. Looks pretty rural and ready for agrarian endeavors to me.
Interesting you should mention Detroit. During WWII, Detroit was heralded as the "Arsenal of Democracy" because so much wartime manufacturing took place there. So, in keeping with the OP's premise, Detroit should have been positively impacted. However, I would contend that the opposite is the case:
Because of the great demand for labor, many blacks from the south moved in. This cause tremendous racial conflict within the city. Riots occurred in 1943 and again in 1967. [I'm not suggesting that blacks themselves were the problem, just the integration of them.]
Because of the tremendous demand for housing, many homes were built slipshod and have not stood up well with age.
Many of the wartime factories fell into disuse and now sit vacant.
Because of the tough wartime working conditions, labor unions grew in strength. They were able to raise wages and working conditions, but unfortunately this progressed after the war to the point that American labor was priced out of the market. This led to the demise of US manufacturing in favor of low cost foreign labor.
Because of the prosperity that wartime manufacturing brought, the standard of living in Detroit was the highest in the nation. It fed the growth of Detroit and its suburbs. The GI Bill also contributed greatly to this expansion. Unfortunately, this set in motion never-ending waves of migration out of the city, causing much of the present day abandonment. Also, the low density housing (single family homes on big lots) prevented the implementation of mass transit, which now makes it difficult for current low-income people to get around.
In effect, the benefits of expansion and prosperity of war ironically led to the demise of the city. If WWII never happened, Detroit would have grown at a more stable, though slower, pace and would probably be a more functional city today.
I totally disagree with the OP. Warfare mostly advanced technology to kill people and break things. There are all kinds of technological improvements and inventions that were made to help supply mankind's needs, food clean water etc. Capitalism, the profit motive, is what brought mankind to this advanced state. Edison, Ford, Job, Gates, were all people who wanted to build a better "mousetrap", and make a lot of money.
I totally disagree with the OP. Warfare mostly advanced technology to kill people and break things. There are all kinds of technological improvements and inventions that were made to help supply mankind's needs, food clean water etc. Capitalism, the profit motive, is what brought mankind to this advanced state. Edison, Ford, Job, Gates, were all people who wanted to build a better "mousetrap", and make a lot of money.
Really
While you are indeed untitled to your opinion a simple study of the US Space program will show you are wrong. Do you realize the man /men directly responsible for winning the space race were all German scientist captured at the end of the world. You know jobs and gates had to start with something and that was all the technology developed during the war. Simple capitalism would not have DRIVEN the development of radar, radio control, guidance systems, computers, metallurgy, food preservation. nearly every industry you can imagine was impacted by war production..... Surely you must understand who pays for the most better mousetrap? Uncle Sam and his war machine. Contractors want Government contracts and that means developing items that will aid in our ability to wage war....
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