By Walter E. Block
Should women in the military be allowed? Let me rephrase that question: Should women be welcomed in the army of a nation that wants to win the wars in which it is engaged?
Yes, and no. (Hey, I’m an economist. We’re supposed to answer all questions with replies that include the phrase “well, on the one hand, yes; on the other hand, no.” This phenomenon generates plaintive calls for a one-handed economist.)
No, if the army fights with sticks and stones, in hand-to-hand combat, with spears, swords, shields, bows, and arrows. Why not? The average woman is far less physically powerful than the average man. The only thing females have going for them is the reluctance of most males to physically damage them. Chivalry still resides in the hearts of many people incapable of getting pregnant. (However, Arnold Schwarzenegger was with child in…
