the Logic of War-Making

Imperialism and the Logic of War-Making por Joseph T. Salerno:

As Rothbard suggested, what we might call the "Logic of War Making" is a relatively undeveloped area of the science of human action. Its elaboration is therefore especially necessary if we are to dispel the mythology of war and elucidate its true origin and character. The basic axiom of this praxeological discipline is that war is the objective outcome of the human endeavor of war-making.

As a human endeavor like any other, war-making is the product of reason, purpose and choice. Therefore a proper analysis of war must take into account the goals of the war makers, the means at their disposal, the benefits they anticipate from the war and the costs they expect to incur in executing it. It also must distinguish in a general way between the individual beneficiaries and victims of war. These victims include not only the vanquished group of war makers and those who reside in the territory they control but especially the productive inhabitants of the region controlled by the victorious organization of war makers.

We thus arrive at a universal, praxeological truth about war. War is the outcome of class conflict inherent in the political relationship – the relationship between ruler and ruled, parasite and producer, tax-consumer and taxpayer. The parasitic class makes war with purpose and deliberation in order to conceal and ratchet up their exploitation of the much larger productive class. It may also resort to war-making to suppress growing dissension among members of the productive class ..

.. a permanent state of war or preparedness for war is optimal from the point of view of the ruling elite, especially one that controls a large and powerful state.