Lomenore wrote:If there's something to fight over, and it justifies the investment, companies will fight over it just like governments would. If there's an oil well, what does it matter whether a government or an oil company invades it? You seem to think that wars are always more expensive then the wealth gained by controlling territory.
An oil company doesn't acquire its wealth through robbery, so it is much more difficult for a private company to afford to wage large scale wars.
Let's say Lomenore Inc. spent a hundred billion dollars to conquer Niceguy City, a metropolis of 5 million. Now, that's a pretty big expense. But Niceguy City is now a company town. Those 5 million people have to buy food, housing, fuel, cars, clothing, and everything else from company stores. So Lomenore inc. will make that money back pretty quickly.
Of course ignoring the destroyed infrastructure, the insurgency against the conquerors, and the virtual impossibility of a company with the expertise necessary to monopolize an entire city of 5 million people.
Now that Niceguy City is a company town, all buildings are company property. Therefore, anyone who wants a place to stay has to pay rent. So assuming 500,000 heads of household, with 9 dependents each, pays 500 dollars a month for rent, that's 6,000 per household per year. Assuming there's $150 for water and electricity, with another $50 for tv, telephone service, and internet, that bumps rent up to $700 a month, and 8,400 a year. With 500,000 people paying, that's 4.2 billion a year that Lomenore Realty is raking in.
But of course, these citizens have to eat. So let's say Lomenore Cuisine sells three meals a day for 5 dollars each, that's $15 a day, $5,475 a year, with 5 million citizens. That's $27,375,000,000 a year. Assuming each person in Niceguy City can only eat once a day, that's still 9.125 billion. So adding that to the 4.2 billion Lomenore Realty is making, and the profits from Lomenore Cuisine, that's 13.325 billion dollars a year. That's enough to recoup the costs of a hundred billion dollar invasion campaign in seven and a half years.
Since the company owns the city, the citizens have to work for the company. Assuming a fifteen mile commute to the office, that's thirty miles a day, there and back again. If the car gets 30 miles to the gallon, and the tank holds 30 gallons, they'll need to refuel about once a month. If gasoline sold by Lomenore Oil and Gas costs $5 a gallon, that's $150 per month. Assuming only one person in ten owns a car, that's 500,000 cars in the city, that's $900 million. If half the people in the city own a car, that's 2 and a half million cars, with 1800 a year for gas, adds up to 4 and a half billion dollars.
Assuming fuel costs are 1$ a gallon, that's thirty dollars a month, $360 a year. 360 times 500,000 equals 180 million. If we go with the second figure, 2.5 million cars spending $360 a year on gas, that's still 900 million.
So, if gas prices are high, Lomenore Oil and Gas will be getting 4.5 billion. Add in the 4.2 billion from Lomenore realty, and the 13.325 billion from Lomenore Cuisine, Lomenore Inc. is making 22,025,000,000 a year so far. So there's a mere 5 years before this very expensive invasion starts paying for itself.
So far we're making money on food, housing, utilities, and gas. But wait! There's more! According to the Lomenore inc funded Lomenore Research Institute, all cars not produced by Lomenore Automotive have been declared Unsafe At Any Speed. The company will be conducting a mandatory recall, and Lomenore Security will be strongly encouraging each driver to buy a new, safe, and mostly affordable vehicle from Lomenore Automotive. Our new 2011 vehicle, the Highwayman, is on sale now for the low low price of $15,000!
So, assuming there are only 500,000 drivers in Niceguy city, that's 7.5 billion raked in. They can voluntarily consent to pay the Highwayman, or they can voluntarily consent to be shot dead by Lomenore Security. So 7.5 billion from auto sales, 4.5 billion for gas to drive those cars, 4.2 billion for rent, and 13.325 billion for food. Giving us an annual income of 29.525 billion from our new conquest, paying for the campaign in less then 4 years.
So, under the benevolent rule of Lomenore Inc, residents of Niceguy city have food, housing, cars, and affordable gas. But what about water? Well, thanks to our wonderful corporate state, we have no wasteful regulatory bodies like the EPA. So the nearby water has been bottled and sold, with no pesky purification or filtering. Lomenore Inc cuts out the middleman and passes the savings on to you! But for those who like the very best, there is our Aqua Pura, only the cleanest and most wholesome of drinks. Rumors that it is simply ordinary tap water bottled and resold are slander, and Lomenore Security punishes slander with death. So, assuming 4 liters of drinking water a day, at $1 a liter, that's 20 million liters consumed each day. 20 million a day for 365 days, that's 7.3 billion. Added to the 29.525 billion, that's 36.825 billion per annum. The cost of the conquest will be paid off in just under three years.
So, tell me again how warfare isn't profitable?
I wish I could write more to justify you spending all the time it took for you to write that up. But you basically invented a tautological theory based on an initial premise I do not agree with. That premise being the idea that a private company would accept the risk necessary to pull off such an operation, and then monopolize every aspect of that city of 5 million people. Unless you are a communist, I think you can agree with me that such a feat would be virtually impossible. No single entity has the expertise or specialization to control that many aspects of a society, as evidenced by the failures of socialism.
