Re: Political self-obsession and onanism
Also privatised defence contractors worked really well in the Elizabethan days... After all, that's how we beat the Spanish Armada. And on the cheap too! She didn't even resupply the fleet for about 2 weeks - and they improvised! Well nearly lost due to lack of ammo actually - but that's just quibbling...
Also we should probably ignore the incident where the whole fleet was following Drake at night, and he doused his ship's lights so he could sneak off and pirate a Spanish ship that had been dismasted - leading to the whole English fleet getting scattered and having to waste half a day to re-form.
On the other hand English pirates privateers in the Carribbean were an excellent (and free!) foreign policy tool for dealing with Spain. As Elizabeth even invested in some of the ventures - the crown even made a profit. Although we also have her to blame for some pretty dreadful films...
Biting the hand that feeds IT
