I think this is a re-work of "Chinas Totalitarian Bet". So there is a theory that the reason Middle East armies are basically expensive and crap is that the el

I think this is a re-work of "Chinas Totalitarian Bet". So there is a theory that the reason Middle East armies are basically expensive and crap is that the elites of the Saudis and Kuwaitis and Iraqis have loads of money but are despots and won't trust anyone but the most loyal / ethnically familial close with real power. So the tank battalions are lead not by talented colonels but by a cousin of the royal family. Spend six million training a nobody from nowhere Tom Cruise to be a fighter pilot? Make all the princes pilots. Let a sergeant train with a Anti Tank weapon. No way. They might aim at the cousin in his tank. This is the opposite of the (more) meritocratic USA. Decision making is pushed downwards and the coherent mission is aligning all. It is worth noting that a lot of ISIS / al-quida success is attributed to having to let go of this attitude - their central driving mission meant everyone was loyal, this decision making and training could be pushed right down into cells. Anyway I am not an expert here. The point being that Totalitarian regiemes have a hard time making militaries that are flexible and responsive. And that rolls over to factories and civil servants etc. Now the guardian writer Jon (?) and up with Chinas Totalitarian Bet - china knows this but thinks software and the surveillance state changes the game enough that either no-one can get out of line enough before their digital footprint catches them (again see al-qeueda) or that they can just give direct orders to be followed like Amazon warehouse packers and that will allow such flexibility and change. So yeah mass education was about teaching the masses to think. And the people in say Victorian Britain who said this will end their way of life were actually right - fortunately for us. The question now is can software replace our thinking? Can we all just do as we are told ? Will a society of drones be worth living in or even be productive enough to survive? And will the opposite, a more democratic more meritocratic and more fair and generous society be more productive innovative and worthwhile. I say Yes to the last and no to all others.