A proposition on innovation: Getting rid of the old is harder than embracing new
One more from Andrade‘s "Gunpowder Age."
One more from Andrade‘s Gunpowder Age: He asserts that:
The problem for an old state isn’t so much embracing the new as getting rid of the old. … If the Qing had been able to devote to new armies the funds it was expending on decrepit ones, it would have done far better. The problem for the Qing wasn’t a lack of technology or know-how. It was lack of focus. Old institutions drained resources.
To me, this raises the question: What should we get rid of, or at least stop making more of? My answer, grasshopper knows, is the current aircraft carrier of the Big Fat Target class. But what do you think is the horse cavalry of today — or of 2026?
Image credit: Tom Freeman/CNAS
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