Anti-War op-ed week of October 3rd

The purpose of waging war is so that we may live in peace. Our lives do not derive meaning from bloodshed and conflict, but rather from achieving our life goals and advancing the human race.

War is only justified when peaceful coexistence is not possible. One case is when another party brings war to us, such as at Pearl Harbor. In the face of a belligerent enemy peace is not an option. A second case is when another party makes life intolerable, such as the Revolutionary War. When we are reduced to servitude to unchosen masters, it is better to die as free men than to live as slaves.

War is rarely justified, and it is less often wise. The costs of war are horrific. Billions of dollars of goods that would have been used for productive purposes are instead used to make implements of death. Capital, that marvelous thing that raises our wages and standard of living, is burned in the conflagration. Most tragically of all, the cost of war is measured in human lives, including innocent civilians.

Unfortunately mainstream politicians do not treat the choice of going to war as the weighty decision it is. Rather than resorting to violence only for the noblest purposes, they have sanctioned the use of force wherever “American interests” may benefit. Worse still, both major parties now support the doctrine of preemptive war, ensuring that peace will exist only as a temporary and fragile thing in this millennium.

Although the position of our leaders is deplorable, it is not surprising. War is the health of the state. With a fearful electorate politicians are able to roll back pesky economic and civil liberties that limit their power. In times of crisis the federal government metastasizes and never returns to its pre-crisis size. Also, war lets politicians play the hero; history classes regard wartime monsters as some of America’s greatest presidents.

The War on Terror continues an unbroken chain of American aggression dating back a century. As an open-ended war on an abstract concept, it is a license for perpetual conflict. Any political opponent of the United States may be branded a “terrorist regime”. We have long ago lost sight of the true terrorist: Osama bin-Laden. We have also lost sight of the end goal of peace.

As the major party debates continue, the voice of peace is silenced. What we don’t hear is Libertarian nominee Michael Badnarik promising to withdraw American troops from the 150 countries where they are stationed around the globe and to stop intervening in local governments which has made America the target of terrorist groups. While Libertarians would fight to the last man defending our nation, they would not spill a drop of blood nor spend a single dollar on unprovoked aggression.

When the mainstream has abandoned lovers of peace, lovers of peace should abandon the mainstream. When the major parties offer us a choice between war and more war, we should choose neither. We should choose Libertarian.