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> The outlook for their ROI is much brighter

I agree that American ROI on military spending is negative, though the degree to which this is true is debatable. (The American defense industry doubles as a federal jobs and R&D program.) I do not see how China building an expensive, low-throughput transportation mode that is uncompetitive, even without a traversable Arctic Ocean, is productive.

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Stills orders of magnitude more productive than killing people and destroy nations.

Fifty cents on the dollar versus negative fifty cents on the dollar. With the first approach, you lose 50 cents but you still have 50 cents.

If it helps, think of it as China's man on the moon. It's a trophy the gov can point to. Think of it as a single point of (financial) focus with long term commitment. Now imagine what the USA would do with that money. How is China's choice not productive

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