I would disagree with his majesty. I see it as being less that the
empire was counting on King Rexx requesting to join the empire
and more that the empire was hoping for a beneficial (and
profitable – to all parties) outcome. None of the parties by
themselves – including the Wolf Empire – is likely to be able to
defeat the core worlds in an all-out slug fest. It is only by uniting
that they can make a war with the fringe worlds too expensive for
the core worlds. Wars are hard on trade. Direct combat related expenses
aside, war, by adversely affecting commerce, reduces the amount of tax
revenue available. This is actually a biblical principle. The Carpenter’s
Son, in the Gospel of St Luke put it like this, “[S]uppose a king is
about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and
consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one
coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will
send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will
ask for terms of peace.” War (as so many here are all too aware) is
extremely expensive both in blood and treasure. Even a ruler who is
unconcerned about a war’s cost in blood will be concerned about a
war’s cost in treasure.And if he forgets the merchants will
damned well remind him.
Rules of Acquisition:
34 War is good for business.
35 Peace is good for business.
45 Expand or die. (Same as 95)
76 Every once in a while, declare peace.
It confuses the hell out of your enemies.
And one I was speaking in the spirit of last strip:
90 Hear all, trust nothing.
I was just floored by the puffed-up icon of Führerprinzip with
Little Man’s Disease saying he was “de-Nazifying” Ukraine.
I can’t stomach hypocrisy, even when it isn’t getting people killed.
If you’re a leader of some kind and your advisor start to protect you from the truth, it’s time to find new advisors.
Or you’d risk ending up like Nicolae Ceaușescu … “you can’t execute me! Everybody loves me! There must be a mistake” …
More like “hoping for it” and “prepared for it”. We had other, less
optimistic, eventualities planned for as well. No, we don’t need to
go into those.
I would disagree with his majesty. I see it as being less that the
empire was counting on King Rexx requesting to join the empire
and more that the empire was hoping for a beneficial (and
profitable – to all parties) outcome. None of the parties by
themselves – including the Wolf Empire – is likely to be able to
defeat the core worlds in an all-out slug fest. It is only by uniting
that they can make a war with the fringe worlds too expensive for
the core worlds. Wars are hard on trade. Direct combat related expenses
aside, war, by adversely affecting commerce, reduces the amount of tax
revenue available. This is actually a biblical principle. The Carpenter’s
Son, in the Gospel of St Luke put it like this, “[S]uppose a king is
about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and
consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one
coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will
send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will
ask for terms of peace.” War (as so many here are all too aware) is
extremely expensive both in blood and treasure. Even a ruler who is
unconcerned about a war’s cost in blood will be concerned about a
war’s cost in treasure.And if he forgets the merchants will
damned well remind him.
Rules of Acquisition:
34 War is good for business.
35 Peace is good for business.
45 Expand or die. (Same as 95)
76 Every once in a while, declare peace.
It confuses the hell out of your enemies.
And one I was speaking in the spirit of last strip:
90 Hear all, trust nothing.
There is a corollary to 34: only from a distance,
the closer to the front lines, the less profitable it gets
Boy, the events in eastern Europe make it really hard
to not comment on real world politics right now.
Eh, go ahead. I’m pretty much sick of everything anyway.
I was just floored by the puffed-up icon of Führerprinzip with
Little Man’s Disease saying he was “de-Nazifying” Ukraine.
I can’t stomach hypocrisy, even when it isn’t getting people killed.
Woe. All the papers are still drifting down through the air.
When I think of how all the recent wars were started I grieve.
So he did not tell her about the double?
If you’re a leader of some kind and your advisor start to protect you from the truth, it’s time to find new advisors.
Or you’d risk ending up like Nicolae Ceaușescu … “you can’t execute me! Everybody loves me! There must be a mistake” …
She was on the cellphone right next to him when he was discussing it.