2 ms·

I thought of the economies of scale issue, but didn't add it. I definitely agree it's an issue unless Hobbits are just really keen on not accepting cheap import

I thought of the economies of scale issue, but didn't add it. I definitely agree it's an issue unless Hobbits are just really keen on not accepting cheap imports from abroad. I'd say it's also a problem globally if your country adopted such a system, but an enemy didn't and overcame your country's ability to defend itself. It's not that soldiers don't exist in such an economy, but that I don't think you'd be able to be competitive from a logistics standpoint and thus an easy target. For example, they're producing tanks and planes in a factory, while your country has a lot of rural blacksmiths.

TeMPOraL 2y ago
That's pretty much the reason the world order looks the way it does. You could argue that people were happier as hunters and gatherers than as farmers, but agriculture allowed for growth in population and technology, leading to it plain outcompeting the hunting-and-gathering lifestyle. Same with industrialization and markets. You can have whatever social order you like if it's isolated, but the moment two groups clash over some resource they both covet, one of them will dominate, and the other perish - interacting societies are subject to natural selection.