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"The leisured classes in Great Britain, having most of their energy liberated from the necessity of work, naturally specialise on 'sport,' the hygienic necessity of a substitute for work helping to support or coalescing with the survival of a savage instinct. As the milder expressions of this passion are alone permissible in the sham or artificial encounters of domestic sports, where wild game disappears and human conflicts more mortal than football are prohibited, there is an ever stronger pressure to the frontiers of civilisation in order that the thwarted 'spirit of adventure' may have strong, free play." -- John Hobson, 1902

"In great empires the people who live in the capital, and in the provinces remote from the scene of action, feel, many of them scarce any inconveniency from the war; but enjoy, at their ease, the amusement of reading in the newspapers the exploits of their own fleets and armies. To them this amusement compensates the small difference between the taxes which they pay on account of the war, and those which they had been accustomed to pay in time of peace. They are commonly dissatisfied with the return of peace, which puts an end to their amusement, and to a thousand visionary hopes of conquest and national glory, from a longer continuance of the war." -- Adam Smith, 1776

<blockquote data-quote="musso" data-source="post: 1559457" data-attributes="member: 11400">&quot;The leisured classes in Great Britain, having most of their energy liberated from the necessity of work, naturally specialise on &#039;sport,&#039; the hygienic necessity of a substitute for work helping to support or coalescing with the survival of a savage instinct. As the milder expressions of this passion are alone permissible in the sham or artificial encounters of domestic sports, where wild game disappears and human conflicts more mortal than football are prohibited, there is an ever stronger pressure to the frontiers of civilisation in order that the thwarted &#039;spirit of adventure&#039; may have strong, free play.&quot; -- <a href="https://oll.libertyfund.org/quotes/john-hobson-argues-that-sport-plays-an-important-part-in-british-imperialism-for-all-classes-and-that-the-spirit-of-adventure-is-now-played-out-in-the-colonies-1902" target="_blank">John Hobson, 1902</a>&quot;In great empires the people who live in the capital, and in the provinces remote from the scene of action, feel, many of them scarce any inconveniency from the war; but enjoy, at their ease, the amusement of reading in the newspapers the exploits of their own fleets and armies. To them this amusement compensates the small difference between the taxes which they pay on account of the war, and those which they had been accustomed to pay in time of peace. They are commonly dissatisfied with the return of peace, which puts an end to their amusement, and to a thousand visionary hopes of conquest and national glory, from a longer continuance of the war.&quot; -- <a href="https://oll.libertyfund.org/quotes/adam-smith-observes-that-the-true-costs-of-war-remain-hidden-from-the-taxpayers-because-they-are-sheltered-in-the-metropole-far-from-the-fighting-and-instead-of-increasing-taxes-the-government-pays-for-the-war-by-increasing-the-national-debt-1776" target="_blank">Adam Smith, 1776</a></blockquote>

[QUOTE="musso, post: 1559457, member: 11400"] "The leisured classes in Great Britain, having most of their energy liberated from the necessity of work, naturally specialise on 'sport,' the hygienic necessity of a substitute for work helping to support or coalescing with the survival of a savage instinct. As the milder expressions of this passion are alone permissible in the sham or artificial encounters of domestic sports, where wild game disappears and human conflicts more mortal than football are prohibited, there is an ever stronger pressure [B]to the frontiers of civilisation in order that the thwarted 'spirit of adventure' may have strong, free play."[/B] -- [URL='https://oll.libertyfund.org/quotes/john-hobson-argues-that-sport-plays-an-important-part-in-british-imperialism-for-all-classes-and-that-the-spirit-of-adventure-is-now-played-out-in-the-colonies-1902']John Hobson, 1902[/URL] "In great empires the people who live in the capital, and in the provinces remote from the scene of action, feel, many of them scarce any inconveniency from the war; [B]but enjoy, at their ease, the amusement of reading in the newspapers the exploits[/B] of their own fleets and armies. To them [B]this amusement[/B] compensates the small difference between the taxes which they pay on account of the war, and those which they had been accustomed to pay in time of peace. They are commonly dissatisfied with the return of peace, which puts an end to [B]their amusement[/B], and to a thousand visionary hopes of conquest and national glory, from a longer continuance of the war." -- [URL='https://oll.libertyfund.org/quotes/adam-smith-observes-that-the-true-costs-of-war-remain-hidden-from-the-taxpayers-because-they-are-sheltered-in-the-metropole-far-from-the-fighting-and-instead-of-increasing-taxes-the-government-pays-for-the-war-by-increasing-the-national-debt-1776']Adam Smith, 1776[/URL] [/QUOTE]