In the modern age, a lot of the opportunities for heroism and glory are closed off. One of the strange side effects is the considerable number of smart, ambitious people who seem to set about making piles of money largely because they can't think of anything else to do.
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Replying to @shylockh
And a lot of young men at best aimless, at worst getting into trouble, for lack of an outlet
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Huh, interesting. It's hard not to think that the army was one of the few places willing to taking out-of-shape guys with heart but not discipline, and make them in-shape and disciplined.
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Demand curves slope downward
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For sure. In some sense this is the mixed bag of the state contracting at arms length with its citizens - you get less coercion (for draft vs volunteer army), better use of human resources, but also less investment in human capital that might primarily benefit the soldier.
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I don't think the last follows. If you don't have to "pay" for soldiers, and they're not distilled in any way, why invest in them beyond the minimum? By contrast, if you can be selective (but it costs you), you may as well maximize that investment.
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You're right, actually - you might think that an absolute monarch viewing people as his personal property would invest in them accordingly, but the old conscription armies didn't work that way.
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read Against the Grain - cities were life-shredders, and ancient monarchs went to war to capture slaves / servants / jannisaries
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that guy has some other good books, too
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