Disclosure: WTFery Institute is a think tank comprised solely of myself; which may or may not constitute a WTFery in and of itself. Read at your own risk.
Several election cycles now we have heard the repeated concerns from Republicans that the US Navy is not as large as it was before World War II. This election cycle we are once again being lauded with the “business acumen” of the Republican presidential candidate as well as this idea that we have to rebuild our Military in part to the same size it was in 1916.
Now I have never run my own business or run for a political office, I have however been employed full time for more than 99% of the last 27 years in various industries and companies. I have also been employed at various times in industries in which I was working at other companies and able to observe that they were run in similar fashions. I have passed a college level economics class, read various writings on business and stayed at a Holiday Inn Express on at least one occasion.
In business, companies utilize things like technological advancements and process efficiencies to reduce company size to maximize profits. The idea is quite simply to do more, do it better and do it with less. This is how many companies operate in order to become more profitable. We have seen how the use of robots in the auto industry has reduced the number of workers in factories. Advances in computers have reduced the need for workers in different industries as fewer people can complete more work on their own. Now I would expect any person touting their “business acumen” to have a firm grasp of these concepts. So why in the hell are we talking about the size of the Navy 100 years ago.
Now I am by no means an expert, but I imagine that the ships our Navy had 100 years ago are nothing compared to today’s ship. I would hope that today’s ships are faster as engine technology has advanced, allowing fewer ships strategically placed to reach areas faster. Weapons technology has advanced exponentially as well allowing ships equipped with things like cruise missiles to engage targets many miles beyond what was possible in 1916.
Now if the argument was to maintain operational force numbers reached at the height of combat operations recently during 2 wars, then that is a discussion founded in reality. Choosing appropriate size of our military based on the number of physical ships at the historical high water mark shows a fundamental lack of knowledge and common sense.
How about instead we have a realistic discussion of fixing tax law, eliminate these farcical loopholes used by people like Donald Trump, as well as the inequality of taxing real work at higher rates than gambling with money in real estate or the stock market. Maybe then we can in turn fully fund the VA and the Military. Freedom is not free, some pay with their lives, some with their bodies and minds, the rest of us have an obligation to pay from our wallets.