"I like and admire veterans, My dad
was a vet and his dad before him. But name any war the United States ever
fought to defend American rights."
THE LIBERTARIAN ENTERPRISE
Number 722, May 26, 2013
The sad thing about [WW-2] is that it was not a
conflict between good and evil, but between differing brands of fascism.
Fascism won.
Memorial Day
by L. Neil Smith
Yesterday, I received in my Inbox, a message from a well-meaning
individual whose mailings I generally enjoy. He sends me many jokes,
funny pictures, and the occasional right wing rant appropriate to one who
clings to his guns and his religion. To me—as one who clings to his guns
and Atlas Shrugged—this makes him a goodguy, a fellow traveler.
He also occasionally sends me messages—and he is far from the only
one—like the one reproduced in part below. Usually, I let them pass—he
probably doesn't care what I think about intellectual property rights, or
other controversies within the libertarian movement. But on this
occasion, he sent me some ideas I need to talk about.
Before I start, I should mention that my grandfather died in an Army camp
near Waco, Texas, in 1918, a volunteer for Woodrow Wilson's "war to
end war ... and make the world safe for democracy" who never got a
chance to fight, thanks to what was then called the "Spanish
Influenza".
In 1944, my father, who never got a chance to meet his father, was a
bombardier, a young Army Air Corps lieutenant in the nose of a B-17 who
flew something like 29 missions over Europe before being shot down over
Germany. He was taken as a prisoner to Stalag Luft Drei for about a year,
had many horrible adventures both before and after he was captured, and
was rescued, with his fellow inmates, after the D-Day landing.
After the war, Dad tried civilian life, discovering that some
corporations—United Airlines, for one—are worse than government. He
re-enlisted in the brand new shiny Air Force as a staff sergeant, and,
owing to the Korean War, was then recalled to his commissioned rank and
ultimately assigned to Strategic Air Command. The war in Asia ended
before his training did, so he never had to go "over there",
but he went on to achieve the rank of Major and retired as a 30-year
veteran.
I grew up on and around Air Force bases all over North America from the
time I was five years old until I graduated from high school. As a kid, I
agreed with my father that he was helping to keep America safe and free
from communist aggression, by flying a B-52 with a belly full of fusion
bombs up over the North Pole two or three times a week, and hanging
around at the edge of Soviet airspace, just to let the badguys know what
they were up against. Who the hell knows? Maybe it worked.
For the most part, I liked life as a military dependent, I liked growing
up within the military community, and I actually pitied the civilian
people I met who weren't a part of that warm world. But as time went on,
Dad began to question a culture that somehow, by mere coincidence,
managed to provide a war—or two—for each and every generation. And by the
time he had retired, in 1965, and had two sons of military age in the
middle of the murderously futile exercise in Vietnam, he was certain. He
never read Smedley Darlington Butler's War Is A Racket, but he managed to
figure out what the score really was.
I still like and get along with military people, of all branches of
service. They tend to like me, and what I do. I was told once that my
first novel, The Probability Broach was, in popularity aboard our nuclear
submarine fleet, second only to Garfield comics, and I felt highly
complimented. If there had been a Navy R.O.T.C. program when I was at
Colorado State University, my life would have turned out very
differently. Air Force brat or not, I desperately wanted to be a
sub-driver.
But thanks to the Vietnam War, which I successfully avoided, I never had
any illusions. I was not about to sacrifice a minute of my life to
enhance the power of that giant ball of mucus, Lyndon Baines Johnson, who
represented a vastly greater threat to my life, liberty, and property
than Ho Chi Minh or anybody like him ever did. He was the fat, lying,
murderous bastard who accused Barry Goldwater of wanting to fight a land
war in Asia, and stuck us with the 1968 Gun Control Act.
So with all that in mind, let's consider the Memorial Day claims my
friend sent to me, and I can only hope he'll be my friend after
this.
"It is the veteran, not the
preacher, who has given us freedom of religion."
The truth is that neither the veteran nor the
preacher ever gave us such a right, it is ours, under natural law, the
very moment we are born. It can certainly be suppressed, and has been
other places in the world, and here, as well—ask any Mormon—but this
government hasn't fought a war to defend any American's rights since the
Revolution.
"It is the veteran, not the
reporter, who has given us freedom of the press."
Once again, not so. When the War of 1812
"broke out"—the U.S. was attempting to bestow the blessings of
American life upon Canada whether Canada wanted them or not—and people
objected (New England nearly seceded over it) people were accused of
"sedition", a charge that should be impossible under the First
Amendment, and thrown in jail.
Later, Abraham Lincoln used the Army to smash the printing presses of his
political opposition and intimidate voters during the 1864
election.
"It is the veteran, not the
poet, who has given us freedom of speech."
Freedom of speech and of the press are natural
rights, as well, which governments in general, and the American
government in particular, have always regarded as a threat. If any single
individual can be thanked for it, that honor belongs to John Peter Zenger
(look him up). At some point, the establishment press became so corrupt,
concealing or excusing government atrocities, that they became a part of
government, and a new press—the Internet—had to evolve in its
place.
"It is the veteran, not the
campus organizer, who has given us freedom to assemble."
Having once been a "campus organizer"
myself, I am well aware how little we had to do with defending the right
to assemble, and how very badly it was done. But please, don't be
ridiculous. Two words: Kent State.
"It is the veteran, not the
lawyer, who has given us the right to a fair trial."
Actually, to the extent that any human
institution is responsible for the right to a fair trial, it's a thousand
years of English Common Law.
"It is the veteran, not the
politician, Who has given us the right to vote."
A dubious gift, at best, but it didn't come from
any politicians or veterans. Thank the Greeks, and don't forget the
Basques, whose methods of self-government were consciously imitated by
the Founding Fathers.
I like and admire veterans, My dad was a vet and his dad before him. But
name any war the United States ever fought to defend American
rights.
As I said, the War of 1812 was a failed attempt to conquer Canada. What
legitimate American interests were threatened by the British in
1812?
The Mexican War was declared on us by a crazy military dictator who
couldn't believe he had been humiliated by an Army of farmers and
ranchers. What legitimate American interests were threatened by the
Mexicans?
The War Between the States was fought to consolidate an empire forged out
of the shattered remnants of a confederation of free republics. Many
northern soldiers thought they were fighting slavery, but the slaves who
labored though the war on the Capitol dome might disagree. The South was
tired of paying 80% of the taxes being collected. What legitimate
American interests were threatened by the South?
The Spanish-American War was an attempt by idiots like William McKinley
and William Randolph Hearst to extend Lincoln's Empire overseas. What
legitimate American interests were threatened by the Spaniards?
World War I had nothing to do with America, but Americans were sent
"Over There" by the evil Wilson to establish us as a global
power. What legitimate American interests were threatened by the
Kaiser?
Even World War II had nothing to do with us, although it's easy to
understand—and difficult to resist—the impulse to destroy a monster like
Hitler. It's important to remember that Hitler was created by the
incredible stupidity of the victorious allies in the First World War. The
sad thing about it all is that it was not a conflict between good and
evil, but between differing brands of fascism.
Fascism won.
Korea was an exercise in absolute insanity. I'm glad that the south
remains prosperous and free, but the price for us was far too high. There
was no reason whatever for Americans to be involved on the peninsula.
What legitimate American interests were threatened by North
Korea?
To this day, nobody is absolutely sure what Vietnam was all about.
There's even a movie, Twilight's Last Gleaming, in which an Army officer
hijacks a missile silo to force the President to tell the world the
terrible truth of the thing. We killed 60,000 of our own— possibly
including someone who, later in life, might have found a cure for cancer
or Alzheimer's disease—and two million Vietnamese who are among the
finest, bravest, most admirable human beings on this planet. What
legitimate American interests were threatened by the Vietnmese?
And now Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and whatever else is to follow. What
legitimate American interests are threatened by any of those
nations?
Nothing about individual rights, property, or American life except their
further destruction by the only government close enough to do us harm.
Both major U.S. parties are controlled by warmongers who want to keep the
government money flowing at any cost—to you and me, that is. Every
legitimate American interest is threatened by the current
government.
There are ways to stop it, if you're interested.
http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2013/tle722-20130526-02.html
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- Memorial Day MJ
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