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"Healthy" State Seeking Perfection?

Bridging on Paul Gessing's blog Club for Growth Assessment of Ron Paul: Fair or Hatchet Job?, I agree with most of what he says there. It is odd how fiscal conservatives compartmentalize foreign and defense policy, as those are very substantial portions of the federal budget. I suppose that they are still influenced by the "Better Dead than Red" slogan from the Cold War years. Perhaps conservatives think that the world is a risky, dangerous place, and military spending is what keeps us alive.

The slogan "War is the Health of the State" is why I blog, though. While a useful concept, I avoid that rhetorical flourish. States and war are not, IMO, healthy endeavors. States seem to be necessary to keep the peace. But, to me, they are more like a flu vaccine...unhealthy, but necessary in small doses to keep the patient immune from full-blown influenza.

It is true that governments seem to revel in warring. "Great" presidents are those who were in office during wartime. This is nothing new, as victors get to write the history as they like it remembered.

In a nation that is dominated by people who call themselves Christians, there does seem to be a profound disconnect. On the one hand, "blessed are the peacemakers," on the other Americans seem to have a bloodthirsty streak. Historically, there does need to be some provocation, but once provoked, the American psyche seems to have a propensity to overreact.

So, while we can quibble with some of Ron Paul's positions, the thrust of his campaign seems to be: End the Iraq War. He is introducing the notion that fiscal conservatives need not be hawks -- and in fact should be doves -- to a nation that desperately needs to hear that message.

-Robert Capozzi

Posted by Robert Capozzi on November 1, 2007 06:47 AM |

Comments

Bob, while I am agnostic on whether humans REALLY need a state of any kind to coerce them into living together, I am willing to settle for a return to Constitutional democracy as our Founders laid it out and as Ron Paul embraces. That said, the phrase "War is the health of the state," has always meant that wars cause states to increase their powers dramatically, usually never to return to their previous boundaries. That has certainly been the case in the USA.

Posted by: Paul Gessing [TypeKey Profile Page] | November 4, 2007 01:07 AM

Free-for-all (frfr-ôl) -- n. A disorderly fight, argument, or competition in which everyone present participates.

from Dictionary.com



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