It took them years of intense warfare to run out. NATO stockpiles would last a few months. That’s not indefensible because NATO doesn’t intend to fight an artillery war, but the limited industrial capacity is still concerning. I suppose that many other factories would be refitted for the production of weapons if a major war actually broke out, but I do worry that Western Europe has gone soft after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Again, that’s not indefensible because spending vast amounts of money on weapons in the absence of any enemies that would pose a serious threat is not prudent, but rearming now seems like the wise course of action.

(Not noncredible enough? Too noncredible? I’m only qualified to comment because I played StarCraft a lot.)

To me it seems like comparing Western industry with China’s that China is way better at making stuff that is good enough to work but simple enough to mass produce things like crazy. And that’s most of what you need in a war.

Force multipliers are great, but sheer force can’t be discounted either.

Thanks for coming to my ted talk