The Great Illusion · Chapter
The Diminishing Factor of Physical Force: Psychological Results explained
This chapter argues that physical force is a diminishing factor in human affairs, being replaced by economic and psychological forces.
What happens
This chapter argues that physical force is a diminishing factor in human affairs, being replaced by economic and psychological forces. It establishes a principle for the advantageous use of force: force that aids cooperation and exchange is beneficial, while force used for parasitism is detrimental. The chapter illustrates this with examples like the despot who cannot command money and the comparison between ancient Rome and modern Britain. It also discusses the psychological changes that accompany this shift, including the redirection of human pugnacity and the sentimental defense of war.
Themes in this chapter
Economic Futility of War
The chapter's central argument is that economic force outweighs physical force, and that conquest and tribute are less effective than free trade and cooperation.
Interdependence of Nations
The text highlights that human society has become a completer organism, increasing interdependence and diminishing the possibility of one part injuring another without injury to itself.
Changeability of Human Nature
The chapter argues that the diminishing factor of physical force carries with it a psychological change in human nature, modifying our impulses to conflict.
Critique of Militarism
The author critiques the sentimental defense of war as a purifier of human life and argues that the role of physical force is decreasing.
Characters to notice
- Theodore Roosevelt
Quoted as an example of the 'rule of thumb' approach to policy, advocating being 'moderately' peaceful or warlike, which the author criticizes as verbal mystification.
Key passages
“Thus it comes that all nations attempting to live by conquest end by being themselves the victims of a military tyranny precisely similar to that which they hope to inflict”
Nations that try to live by conquest ultimately become victims of the same military tyranny they sought to impose on others.
This summarizes the chapter's argument about the self-defeating nature of conquest.
“It is no mere rhetoric, but the cold truth, to say that under absolutism it is a simple thing to get men’s lives, but often impossible to get money.”
It is a plain fact that an absolute ruler can easily take lives but often cannot get money, demonstrating the limits of physical force.
This illustrates the principle that physical force is operative only in very narrow limits.
“The wealth of the world is not represented by a fixed amount of gold or money now in the possession of one Power, and now in the possession of another, but depends on all the unchecked multiple activities of a community for the time being.”
The world's wealth is not a fixed sum to be seized, but rather depends on the continuous, free activities of a community.
This explains why checking economic activity through conquest or tribute reduces wealth for both conqueror and conquered.
“You can to some extent exact tribute by force; you cannot compel a man to buy your goods by force if he does not want them, and has not got the money to pay for them.”
While force can extract tribute, it cannot force someone to buy goods they do not want or cannot afford.
This highlights the difference between ancient tribute and modern trade, where markets must be created and capital employed.