Tuesday, December 2, 2014

On Warfare and the State

Nothing has increased the virulent power of the latter more than the former. The Founding Fathers knew it (the dangers of imperialism, nationalism, war, the constant preparation for war, entangling alliances, the foolhardy quest for honor and glory, etc.) but it has somehow gotten lost in the translation by subsequent politicians (Lincoln, McKinley, TR, Wilson, FDR, Truman, LBJ, Nixon, the Bushes, Obama, etc.). How unfortunate, huh?

3 comments:

dmarks said...

The enablers include those who are mixed up on the concept of "we the people", and thus think that anything our leaders do is fine, as long as these leaders are democratically elected.

Les Carpenter said...

... the foolhardy quest for Honor and Glory...

Humankind summed.

Thirst for Power and Control are powerful motivators.

Even in our internal politics (local, state, federal) we see this. Republican -vs-Democrat, Conservative -vs-Liberal, Reality -vs- Fiction, Perception -vs-Perception... so it has been, so it is, so it shall continue.

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

Washington and Eisenhower, while they certainly weren't perfect, were probably America's 2 wisest Presidents at least when it came to this stuff.