War is often ruinous

Even for the victors, war is ruinous.  It may have seemed different with World War II and the United States.  For many people to this day think that war made the US prosperous.  No doubt, the US was prosperous after that war and was the only untouched major power of that time.  But even for the US, the war was ruinous because it solidified the state at the expense of liberty.  Even though the US appeared to have profited, something greater was lost.

I can cite the source, but why bother?  The best wars are the ones that are not fought.  It doesn't have to come from MY knowledge and wisdom, but from someone who is respected in that subject.

On the other hand, it does appear that much was won over the course of many other wars of the past.  Wars can be profitable.  Again, the source says so.  You should know WHEN to fight and WHEN not to fight.  This may not be obvious.

Certainly, an example of profitable wars were the wars of independence in the US and in Texas.  The Mexican War was also profitable.  But I hold that the Civil War was not.  Although slavery was abolished, the all powerful state was born.  The Civil War might have been averted, thus it was a war that should not have been fought.  Some may argue that it was better to have been fought, but I am not so sure.  The all powerful state threatens to overrun the entire society, and when that happens, liberty will be lost forever.

If a general rule can be devised:  maybe a war for independence can be profitable, a war of conquest of territory could be profitable.  But idealistic wars can be ruinous.  Vietnam was idealistic in a sense---a war for capitalism over communism.  The War in Iraq was idealistic in a sense---terror versus civilization.  The objective in each was ill defined and more emotional that concrete and substantive.  If the idea was to conquer all of those territories and subjugate them, it may have been profitable.  But we are too "civilized" for that.  To conquer them for emotional reasons would probably be ruinous.

One thing that can be noticed about American history of late.  Too many wars and for the wrong reasons.  If you put freedom on the line for profit, you risk losing your money and your freedom.  What kind of sense is that?  Once again, the source says go easy on the wars.  No state can profit from too many of them.