... the direct use of force is so poor a solution to the problem of limited resources and diverse ends that it is rarely employed save by small children and great nations.
--- David M. Friedman, Law’s Order, Princeton University Press (2000), Epilogue, p. 309
Quote in context:
The world has limited space and resources and is occupied by people with differing beliefs and objectives. From those simple facts comes the potential for conflict. I want to hunt a deer across the field where you are trying to grow wheat. You want to go swimming in the stream where I am trying to catch fish.
The simple and obvious solution is the direct use of physical force. You plant a thorn hedge around your wheat field to persuade me to hunt deer somewhere else. I hit you over the head with a tree branch to convince you to swim somewhere else.
This is not a very satisfactory solution to the problem; it is expensive in time, effort, scratches and bruises, and frequently fails of its objective. Indeed, the direct use of force is so poor a solution to the problem of limited resources and diverse ends that it is rarely employed save by small children and great nations.
