That goes a zillions times more for defense contractors, in not considering them evil, especially including keeping them in business.

Hard to win, impossible nowadays against a serious opponent, if you've let them go out of business. And many many of our troops needlessly died in WWII due to our playing catch up because we'd neglected these "merchants of death".

Also goes for defense related research, etc.; our response to that is not 1 ton ANFO IEDs (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterling_Hall_bombing).

The Romans had it right, "si vis pacem, para bellum" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Si_vis_pacem,_para_bellum).