Something can be necessary and useful while still be an unprofitable money sink. I pay for water from my city’s utility. It’s a useful resource, but it’s still a money sink. I don’t earn any profit from the water I get from the city. In fact, it all goes down the drain in one form or another, and I have to pay even more money for the city to take the used water off my property! I absolutely need it; I couldn’t live in the home I do if the water was cut off. But it’s not a profit center for my household finances. Just because something is necessary and useful does not mean it is profitable.
It always goes back to rights and responsibilities. Assholes want all the rights, none of the responsibilities. You will see this pattern everywhere in life.
“Territories beyond this are mostly money sinks useful for either resource extraction or power projection.”
how can somewhere be both a money sink and useful for resource extraction? that’s just paying for resources
Something can be necessary and useful while still be an unprofitable money sink. I pay for water from my city’s utility. It’s a useful resource, but it’s still a money sink. I don’t earn any profit from the water I get from the city. In fact, it all goes down the drain in one form or another, and I have to pay even more money for the city to take the used water off my property! I absolutely need it; I couldn’t live in the home I do if the water was cut off. But it’s not a profit center for my household finances. Just because something is necessary and useful does not mean it is profitable.
It always goes back to rights and responsibilities. Assholes want all the rights, none of the responsibilities. You will see this pattern everywhere in life.