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Comment by RcouF1uZ4gsC | Hacker News Reader

If I have learned anything from history, is that is sucks to be on the losing side of a war. As a worker, I will happily pay taxes and do stuff that helps make sure my side is never on the losing side of a war. As a citizen and voter, I will use my vote and my voice to keep us out of wars that are either unwinnable or unjust. Trying to intentionally reduce the effectiveness of my military as these Microsoft workers are trying to do is not something I will do.

The alternative to US military dominance, isn't a peaceful utopia, it is either Chinese military dominance or Russian military dominance. You can be sure that Chinese and Russian tech companies are trying their best to increase the effectiveness of their country's military.

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This is the tyranny of the Nash equilibrium.

Eventually, though, it's necessary to find some solution, outside of the game- or, eventually, the inherent instability of ever-increasing military power will cause some very, very bad outcomes- for all parties involved.

Any technology that is useful, tends to make the military more powerful. Road building was used by the Romans to great advantage. The British and Portuguese took advantage of innovations in ocean going vessels. The American Civil War made extensive use of the telegraph and railroad.

The only way to get out of this equilibrium is to stop developing all technology.

> If I have learned anything from history, is that is sucks to be on the losing side of a war.

But not being in a war at all sucks even less than being on the winning side!

You don't really mean this. There are countless examples in history where being on the winning side is far better than not having been involved in the war/conflict in the first place.

The status quo is sometimes hellish.

>> The alternative to US military dominance, isn't a peaceful utopia, it is either Chinese military dominance or Russian military dominance

Yes, it is true and well known around the world that Russia, China and the USA are warmongers that use military force to get what they want. It is something we have become used to.

I'm very pleased to hear MS workers aren't happy with this status quo.

This is false. We actually live in the most peaceful times in human history. The current situation is the result of small scale proxy wars fought between the USSR and the US. These wars were fought instead of a global all out war involving exchanges of nuclear weapons. So if the alternative was global conflict, how can you say these countries are war mongers?

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