General Edgeways gives away the real motivation behind all of his and Gimmitch’s empty talk about discipline, values, and cultural purity. They want
power. They believe that a great nation is one that dominates and subjugates other nations, and they think that every American should work tirelessly to fulfill this vision of greatness (whether they agree with it or not). Thus, even though Edgeways originally proposed investing in the military to preserve
peace, now he admits that he really wants constant
war. This pattern repeats itself throughout the book, and in real life: some politicians act entirely out of narrow self-interest but cover up their real motivations by talking about values like security and justice. Lewis’s satire aims to make this duplicity as obvious as possible.