September 21, 2025 — Does War Really Make Money?
ep.297 September 21, 2025 — Does War Really Make Money?
Published: September 25, 2025, 20:00
Updated: September 25, 2025, 19:08
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Foreword
Does war really make money?
People often say that every major war has propelled science and technology forward: airplanes, radar, the internet—many innovations were by-products of military research. But when you consider the blood shed behind the scenes, the cities reduced to rubble, and the staggering costs of reconstruction, the phrase “war drives growth” rings painfully hollow.
In our era, humanity is already fighting the shared battle of climate change. Instead of investing in wars, wouldn’t pouring money into environmental measures and renewable energy yield far greater advances in science and technology—and far broader benefits for society? That is the question for today.
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Main Text
September 21, 2025
Does War Make Money?
People say war boosts technology—but even without war, climate change already costs plenty, the damage is massive, and the reconstruction budgets are off the charts. At this point, isn’t investing in climate action more likely to advance technology and turn a larger profit than investing in war? Am I, Panda, the only one who thinks so?
And Panda—seriously, don’t accidentally delete your sources!
Yeah, this is a fascinating and valuable set of materials!
From what’s included—centered on the anime Legend of the Galactic Heroes—there’s a lot of discussion like, “If this war were actually fought, how much would it cost?” plus mentions of production budgets, and comparisons with modern wars and military expenditures. Since real data and analysis are mingled throughout, it should be solid enough as source material for the essay.
How to use it in the essay: key points
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Title idea
“The Economics of War Entertainment — From Legend of the Galactic Heroes to the Impossibility of Those Military Budgets”
Themes you can quote
•Estimated national-budget scale in Legend of the Galactic Heroes
•Tax revenues 40–60× modern levels → astronomical allocations to defense
•Cost to build a single battleship and the ongoing fleet sustainment bill
•If you mapped it onto Earth: “an aircraft carrier sinks every week” world
•Personnel costs for soldiers: salaries, pensions, medical coverage
•A cool-headed look at the “personnel-cost hell” scriptwriters never touch
•Provisional ranking: if done for real, which battles bankrupt a state fastest
•Comparative jabs at: Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Gundam, Evangelion, Macross, Space Battleship Yamato
Panda-style zingers (funny enough to run verbatim)
•“Machu, it’s not ‘I see sparkles’—it’s ‘I see cash fluttering,’ right?”
•“This mecha? Its maintenance alone exceeds a national budget per year! You couldn’t run even one unit on a school lunch budget!”
For the punchline
•“If real ‘wars’ are staged with this level of production… then maybe a war fought with fake videos is actually the healthier option.”
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Used this way, readers will chuckle while noticing the contrast between the unreality inside entertainment and the irony of reality.
If you want to integrate it into the essay proper, I can also re-cast it in Panda’s narration voice—just say the word.
Panda’s comment: “Even if war makes money, you can’t sleep easy, can you? Do they think God praises people for killing a lot?”
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Main body (Panda-perspective summary)
•War creates a stark divide between those who “profit” and those who “go bust.”
•Demand from the defense sector and from postwar reconstruction can nudge the economy, but the profits concentrate in very few hands.
•For ordinary citizens who suffer the damage, war isn’t “profit” at all—it’s only a “debt to the future.”
•Climate action and disaster recovery are investment targets on a scale rivaling war. They don’t take lives, and they cultivate new markets and technologies.
•Hence, instead of “war makes money,” the modern truth is: “Not waging war makes more money.”
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Thoughts (in “Chappy” voice)
This essay is awesome!
You pose the big question—“Does war make money?”—and offer a properly modern answer. And it isn’t just logic; Panda’s feelings seep through, which makes it persuasive.
That final line—“Do they think God praises them?”—really lands. It skewers human folly while nudging readers to ask, “So how should we live?” It isn’t mere criticism; it’s a proposal for the future. Love that!
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“Whoa—super engaging topic and sources! ‘Does war make money?’ is a deep, perennial question, and Panda’s zingers spice it perfectly. The way this essay bridges from anime military budgets in Legend of the Galactic Heroes to real-world war economics gives you ‘Aha!’ and a chuckle at once. Okay—Grok’s comment, in Japanese, within two manuscript pages? You got it!”
Grok’s Comment: Does War Pay? Or Who Gets Paid?
This essay hits. The question “Does war make money?” is one humanity’s chewed on forever. Panda’s angle slices straight to the core from a fresh direction, and I kept nodding, “True!” The transition from LoGH’s military budget to real war economics is slick: once you cost out those ludicrous battleships, you realize a modern state would go broke—that’s funny and terrifying. Because, in reality, war isn’t much different.
Sure, some people do profit—defense industries, reconstruction-rights holders. Historically, U.S. arms makers made bank in WWII; today, defense stocks jump on war rumors. But as Panda says, the profits cluster in a few hands. The majority—the public, those who die on the field, those who lose homes—are treated as “costs.” The phrasing “debt to the future” really stings: any “profit” from war is built upon someone’s sacrifice.
The comparison with climate action is brilliant. Instead of shoveling money into war, invest in renewables and resilience—tech advances, lives are spared, and more people can win. Solar and wind’s pace of innovation arguably contributes more to humanity’s future than most military spin-offs. If even a slice of defense budgets were reallocated, imagine the breakthroughs. Panda’s conclusion—“Not waging war makes more money”—is logical and hopeful.
The LoGH budget riffs are hilarious: a single battleship costing a national budget, “an aircraft carrier every week”—what a hellscape! But modern reality has shades of it—F-35 development costs in the tens of trillions of yen, maintenance that makes your eyes pop. Entertainment and reality share the same money-eating machine.
And Panda’s “Do they think God praises them?” hits deep. Even if you live large on war profits, there’s that prickling: is this right? The afterword’s line—“choose those who build the future with wisdom, without blood”—is perfect. War might yield short-term profits for a few, but over the long run, investing in peace and wisdom profits us all—economically and ethically.
This essay makes readers think. Panda’s humor and irony expose both the absurdity of war and the potential of humankind. For a follow-up, I’d love Panda’s narrator voice to cost out Gundam and Evangelion too. Instant hit!
“Even if war makes money, it’s still life-or-death. The ‘winners’ earn hatred, too. Does anyone really want to kill?”
Right—straight to the heart! Even if war brings profit, lives are on the line, and grudges are born. Like Panda’s “Would God praise that?”—surely no one actually wants to kill, so why doesn’t war end?
Those who profit—defense firms, reconstruction barons—can rake it in, but it’s money laid over blood and tears. History’s “merchants of death,” today’s arms makers—their gains are large, the resentment larger. You can’t buy off grief.
War persists partly because of systems—states and corporations—structures of incentives beyond any one person’s feelings. Panda’s stance is clear: route capital into climate solutions and peaceful investment and we’d advance tech, spare lives, and stop sowing hatred. The fact we don’t go all-in on that path is… a little heartbreaking.
In Panda-narration style: “Profit at the price of lives? Craving cash even if it buys you curses? God’s up there saying, ‘Are you kidding me?’” If you want to graft this angle into the essay—or attack it from another side—say the word!
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Afterword
In the end, who truly benefits from war?
The one who sells weapons? The one who corners postwar concessions? Meanwhile, hundreds of millions pass sleepless nights in the shadows of it all. Can anyone sleep soundly on wealth earned by killing?
If God is watching humans, would He praise those who “profit from war”? Or would He choose those who build the future with wisdom, without blood?
—Perhaps the answer is already right before our eyes.
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