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The War That Justified Other Wars

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The Good War That Wasn’t — And Why It Matters: World War II’s Moral Legacy by Ted Grimsrud (Cascade Books, 2014), 286 pages. Even among some libertarians, World War II is viewed as the great exception. Although it was the most destructive thing to life, liberty, and property that the world has ever seen, World War II is viewed as a good war. Although it took the lives of more than 50 million people, World War II is viewed as a moral war. Although it killed more civilians than combatants, World War II is viewed as a noble war. Although it wounded hundreds of millions, World War II is viewed as a just war. Although it made hundreds of millions of refugees, widows, and orphans, World War II is viewed as a necessary war. The invoking of Hitler, Nazism, and World War II is supposed to forever constitute the definitive refutation of pacifism, shame conscientious objectors, discredit anti-war ...

A Successful Case of Indoctrination

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Among the most successful cases of propaganda and indoctrination has been convincing the American people of how necessary and beneficial the military establishment, the CIA, and the NSA are to the safety and freedom of the American people. From the first grade to big sporting events, people are inculcated with this conviction. To see how differently the Founding Fathers and our American ancestors viewed a national security state, carefully consider the following quotes. As you read them, think about all the U.S. national-security state’s many regime-change operations in the Middle East and elsewhere, its ongoing provocations against Russia and China, it secret surveillance program, and its decades of assassinations. James Madison: “A standing military force, with an overgrown Executive will not long be safe companions to liberty. The means of defence agst. foreign danger, have been always the instruments of tyranny at home. Among the Romans it was a standing maxim to excite a war, whenever a revolt was apprehended. Throughout ...

Why the Shock Over Paris?

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I can understand why people are horrified over the terrorist attacks in Paris but, for the life of me, I just cannot understand why they are shocked by it. People who are shocked by the attacks are definitely suffering from a severe case of obtuseness and denial. Ever since 9/11, we libertarians have been saying that terrorism is one of the prices that people pay for living under an empire, one that engages in foreign interventions. Have all those shocked people not been listening? For example, six years ago I wrote an article entitled “Terrorism Is a Cost of Empire,” in which I pointed out that no one should be surprised when terrorism strikes because that’s just part and parcel of living under an empire. I wrote: But as I’ve pointed out for years, the U.S. Empire has become the world’s biggest terrorist-producing machine. The more people it kills over there, the more the ranks of those who wish to retaliate ...