Timeless Wisdom and Values
by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Birthplace of Independent Conservatism
Perhaps one of the best and most accurate reasons for maintaining a strong DEFENSE capable of reacting swiftly to a threat from beyond our borders.
Sadly it seems our leaders at some point began to understand national defense differently than Hamilton and the rest of our founders understood it.
I suppose there is some truth to the liberals argument that our nation at some point, like many others in history, started to view a worldwide military presence and economic domination as desirable. The concept that war is justifiable only in response to an act of aggression against our nation and people seems to have faded into the background.
Becoming both the world's policemen and benefactor in many ways has helped get this nation in the fiscal mess it finds itself. That and our tendency to the nanny state of course.
Rational Nation USA
Birthplace of Independent Conservatism
Perhaps one of the best and most accurate reasons for maintaining a strong DEFENSE capable of reacting swiftly to a threat from beyond our borders.
"Let us recollect that peace or war will not always be left to our option; that however moderate or unambitious we may be, we cannot count upon the moderation, or hope to extinguish the ambition of others." --Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 34, 1788
Sadly it seems our leaders at some point began to understand national defense differently than Hamilton and the rest of our founders understood it.
I suppose there is some truth to the liberals argument that our nation at some point, like many others in history, started to view a worldwide military presence and economic domination as desirable. The concept that war is justifiable only in response to an act of aggression against our nation and people seems to have faded into the background.
Becoming both the world's policemen and benefactor in many ways has helped get this nation in the fiscal mess it finds itself. That and our tendency to the nanny state of course.
If only the nanny state anywhere near the size of the military state!
ReplyDeleteJMJ
It is the one solid point the many on the left have.
ReplyDeleteThe trouble with the military is that it has become a giant pork machine for House districts. I mean, do you guys remember the Base Closure Commission? The screaming and moaning from House members when their bases were put on the chopping block? Every year the Pentagon presents a budget. That budget is determined by the the military looking at its needs, threats to America or our allies, new technologies, etc. And every year the House gives them more of what they don't ask for, often at the expense of what they need.
ReplyDeleteWe have to change the way the congress funds our military. We need an apolitical funding stream. It can be done, both realistically and constutitionally if we just as a people demand it. But as long as we're all running around like frightened, paranoid little chicken shits, we'll never be able to deal with this problem in an objective and intelligent way.
JMJ
JMJ et all - Anyone remember Dwight D. Eisenhower.? The Republican President who cautioned the nation against the rising "Military Industrial Complex" following WW II.
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing, and it is just a guess of an old man, the nation's politicians, the businesses that supported military contracts,the military itself, and the fear of the possibility of are repeat of a Pearl Harbor scenario all led us to our current situation.
This is not an indictment of anyone.It rather a statement of opportunity. This nation needs to return to founding principles, which are by the way timeless, and think outside the box.
We need to balance our budget, restore our manufacturing base, revise our tax code, rethink our place in the global environment, reduce our national debt, and restore our middle class buy bringing manufacturing back to our shores.
Any further questions?