[net.space] Feasibilty of intestellar war.

APRI1801@UA.BITNET (03/28/86)

John Kempf had these comments of the feasibilty
of interstellar war:

> What possible motive could be concieved for making a war?
> Conquest?  Kinda hard to adminisrate a planet when it takes
> several years to communicate with it.  Eventualy, it would revolt
> successfully.
> Idiological?  It is hard enough to get one country to agree on
> something, let alone a planet.
> Resources?  Seems kinda wasteful to attack one solar system when
> there are others at about the same distance (including your own)

Seems to me that these basic arguments could be applied to
the state of affairs during the (U.S.) Revolutionary War.
What possible motive could Britain have had for waging war
on America?
Conquest? Kinda hard to administrate a country when it takes
several months to communicate with it.
Idealogical? It was hard enough to get Britain to agree on
anything, let alone another country.
Resources? Seems kinda wasteful to attack one (far off) country
when there are others closer to home...

Didn't stop them, though.

While this isn't (of course) an exact parallel, I can imagine
many sets of circumstances in which interstellar war would not
only be possible, but very probable.   Man's desire to kill
his fellow man should not be underestimated.


Mike L. Asher          BITNET: APRI1801 @ UA
University of Alabama  (No, we're not all hicks)