What Are They Good For

On one hand 3500 people in a nation of 65 million are basically useless no matter what their purpose is, on the other hand...just what is their purpose? We have this weird notion here, too, that in an emergency, "the troops," can do, well, stuff, but they mostly aren't trained to do "stuff." Not that stuff, anyway. They aren't even trained to do law enforcement (mostly). It isn't their job!

Emergency no-deal Brexit contingency plans must now be implemented across government, cabinet ministers have agreed, including reserving ferry space for supplies and putting 3,500 armed forces personnel on standby to deal with any disruption.

Ah. "Disruption." Not to, say, the food supply. But, you know, disruption, like people being disruptive because of a lack of food supply.

Lots of people want to watch the world burn, and elites globally often have a sense that what the world needs is a good culling. I generally think authorities aren't afraid of "disruption." They're hoping for it.