Classical Liberalism rejects aggressive war.

(Classical) Liberalism rejects aggressive war not on philanthropic grounds but from the standpoint of utility. It rejects aggressive war because it regards victory as harmful, and it wants no conquests because it sees them as an unsuitable means for reaching the ultimate goals for which it strives. Not through war and victory but only through work can a nation create the preconditions for the well-being of its members. Conquering nations finally perish, either because they are annihilated by strong ones or because the ruling class is culturally overwhelmed by the subjugated. -- Ludwig von Mises HT2 FFF.org

Interestingly, no state ever presents any war to its population as one of its own aggression. It is a practice from time immemorial for states to hide their own acts of provocation from their people and present to them only the reactions of the other nations or peoples, going back at least as far as the Spot Resolution in the US. In Lincoln's time, as in our own, anyone who asks questions with uncomfortable answers is labeled unpatriotic, not hailed as being prudent about the future of his home, family and culture and protecting that future from political opportunists who see war as simply another patronage opportunity.

Smedley Butler got the essence of the issue right: "War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives. A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small 'inside' group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes."

The Military Industrial Complex is "capitalism" in the same way that rape is love.


It is really funny to hear the nativists complain about illegal immigration and the fact that subjugated people maintain portions of their prior culture even when forcibly assimilated into the US, and vote accordingly, even while defending the manifest destiny which made it a logical inevitability. The irony is rich, but it is lost on them.