@a_breakin_glass War, huh, good god
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing, listen to me

@pzmyers depends on what you mean by war

@pzmyers inter-state war increases the power of the military-industrial complex and allows the government and surveillance agencies to make excuses for authoritarian measures; cold wars and wars against a nebulously defined but somehow otherable enemy allow with the dispensation of the violence of an actual war, while (in the case of the former) offering a much extended lifespan as long as either side remains stable or doesn't escalate conflict, with the latter...

@pzmyers
...offering the same but removing the need for a coherent side and allowing the maintenance of the state of war purely in terms of ideology. both of these 'more advanced' kinds of war can include _actual wars_ as a component of the real or quasi-imaginary conflict, as demonstrated by, say, the Vietnam war.