Re: CHAT: The [+foreign] attribute

Thomas Wier wrote:
> > > What makes the US so powerful is that it is not only very wealthy,
> > > it is wealthy with such a large population.
> >
> > IMHO the only reason the US are so powerful. It is after all the
> > most populous country of the First World.
>
>I'm not sure you understand what those two facts actually mean.
>Great wealth means nothing more than having access to a large amount
>of material resources, and great population means having access to
>a large amount of human resources (ideas, skills, beliefs, etc. in
>addition to raw muscle power). "Power" for our purposes is defined
>as the ability to marshall material and human resources toward a
>particular goal.  So, when you say that the "only" reason is these
>two facts, you are speaking tautologously.
You've lost me here, I'm afraid. Since when does the possession of large
resources, human or material, necessarily confer the ability to marshall
such resources towards a particular goal?

F'rinstance, the EU has a greater population than the US, and, IIRC, a
similar-sized economy. Yet, I don't think anybody'd claim that the EU is
more powerful than the US.

                                                 Andreas

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