Posted on 06/05/2002 3:14:41 PM PDT by drew
"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things; the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing worth a war, is worse. A man who has nothing which he cares more about than he does about his personal safety is a miserable creature who has no chance at being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."
John Stuart Mill
(Proud to be the wife of one of the "better men," a fine soldier who will soon mark twenty years in service.)
"John Stuart Mill was born in London on May 20, 1806.
His first great intellectual work was his System of Logic, R atiocinative and Inductive, which appeared in 1843. This was followed, in due course by his Essays on some Unsettled Questions of Political Economy (1844), and Principles of Political Economy (1848). In 1859 appeared his little treatise On Liberty, and his Thoughts on Parliamentary Reform. His Considerations on Representative Government belongs to the year 1860; and in 1863 (after first appearing in magazine form) came his Utilitarianism. In the Parliament of 1865-68, he sat as Radical member for Westminister. He advocated three major things in the House of Commonswomen suffrage, the interests of the laboring classes, and land reform in Ireland. In 1865, came his Examination of Sir William Hamilton's Philosophy; in 1867, his Rectorial Inaugural Address at St. Andrews University, on the value of culture; in 1868, his pamphlet on England and Ireland; and in 1869, his treatise on The Subjection of Women. Also in 1869, his edition of his father's Analysis of the Phenomena of the Human Mind was published. Mill died at Avignon in 1873. After his death were published his Autobiography (1873) and Three Essays on Religion: Nature, the Utility of Religion, and Theism (1874), written between 1830 and 1870."
However, the state may reasonably place a closed season on these exotic asocial animals whenever they are in danger of becoming extinct. An authentic buck pacifist has rarely been seen off Earth, and it is doubtful that any have survived the trouble there . . regrettable, as they had the biggest mouths and the smallest brains of any of the primates.
The small-mouthed variety of anarchist has spread through the Galaxy at the very wave front of the Diaspora; there is no need to protect them. But they often shoot back.
"If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude greater than the animating contest for freedom, go home from us in peace. We seek not your consul, nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains set lightly upon you; and may posterity forget ye were our countrymen."..........Samuel Adams
Libertarians believe the use of force is reserved in protecting one’s freedoms and liberty, their self and property, exclusively. That said, the discussion comes down to the fact that we argue that our foreign policy is no longer about only defense, but other political priorities that are often hypocritical and for the benefit of politically connected classes of people or organizations or countries.
Regarding the current war on terror and the complex events of 9/11, take a look at the following thread The Great Problem-Solver . I’ve elaborated a bit there on the very subject already. Cheers!
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Another disrupter joins FR....sigh...
2. There is a reason why most soldiers, etc., (god bless them all) are under a certain age – they are too youthful / green to question the policies proposed by those in charge. Many a soldier in the world has “patriotically” gone off to fight for less than perfect reasons. Wisdom comes with age. We all know our politicians are very imperfect on domestic policy, yet we all rally sometimes too blindly around foreign policy – which is just as flaw prone since the same politicians run it. Which leads me to;
3. The Draft is / was insane and is a very authoritarian (un American) premise. Our founders debated the premise of a standing army as a hazard because it would eventually be used more liberally and for less pure defensive reasons, as history proved they always get used. Drafting people unwillingly is wrong for the same reason. People will defend their families if need be, but they will not stupidly volunteer to do something they believe is wrong or has no personal meaning; so authoritarian types invented the draft. When you need a draft to support a cause, perhaps its time to revisit what you are fighting for….
4. What is america all about? Freedom and liberty? Or something else?
1. A real draft could keep the heart of our military "civilian" in that most are not professional soldiers and will look forward to resuming normal lives in a few years.
2. The reasoning behind keeping the heart civilian is to avoid the pitfalls of a professional standing army,which are founding fathers so saw in Europe.
3. Especially if we included women in the draft, wouldn't we be more cautious of the human cost and not needlessly get involved in a fight when it is clearly none of our business?
Someone posted it on a thread I was reading yesterday, I cut and pasted it into Word, printed it out and framed it. It's sitting in my office even as we speak.
"War is an ugly thing, but Janet Reno is uglier."
Oh, so flying jets faster than the speed of sound is as safe as sitting home in your lazy-boy?? I DOUBT IT. My uncle was killed in the 60's when the engine exploded in his Skyhawk and blew the tail off his aircraft coming out of a bombing run. You obviously have very little understanding of the circumstances associated with operating a supersonic aircraft.
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