It's possible I'm thinking of the wrong book. I recall reading some Classic Of Military Sci-Fi, and I thought it was Starship Troopers, in which it turned out that the government had basically become a branch of the army, and the army essentially a subsidiary of the company providing most of its gear, over the course of an interminable outer-space war, to the point where they were deliberately prolonging the war indefinitely to keep the machine running. Economic prosperity, full employment, a plausible excuse to limit civil liberties, and built-in population control - what's not to like?

Mind you, the Heinlein of, say, Space Cadet would have presented all that as a desirable thing in a completely unironic fashion, so maybe that's where I ended up with the idea that it was Starship Troopers that happened in. I haven't read it in years.

--G.
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Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Admin
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