For A Few Casualties More: Memorial Day

On a holiday which commemorates the cost of war, it may seem odd to emphasize its antithesis:

Peace.

Precious peace.

Peace was foremost in our Founders’ minds, even the warrior Washington, who counseled, “The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations, is in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible.” Franklin felt, “There never was a good war or a bad peace.” Jefferson advocated, “Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none.”

"Thomas Jefferson warned of entangling alliances,” Bill Clinton said. “But in our era, America cannot and must not disentangle itself from the world. If we want the world to embody our shared values, then we must assume a shared responsibility." Times indeed change. Modern Americans believe we must champion global liberty and favor US intervention in world affairs.

Although their comprehensive understanding of power, human nature and historical precedent led our Founders to oppose the creation of an American Empire, they would not be flabbergasted to find a modern America with 375,000 troops in 130 countries. The Founding Fathers wanted pax for Americana, but in Tempus Fugit they discover myriad wars which make them fret their nation’s future. Our future. Centuries from now, will the American hymn still be a song of ceaseless conflict? On future Memorial Days, will our posterity commemorate casualties in a procession of new wars? The War in Iran? A Cold War with China? World War III?

Global peace is increasingly debunked as idealistic lunacy, isolationism as a suicidal anachronism. Is incessant war truly intrinsic to the human condition? Is it absurd to strive for peace, as our Founding Fathers did?

Our Founders were not naďve Utopians, but they saw America as an oasis of peace and enlightenment. "I have ever deemed it fundamental for the United States never to take active part in the quarrels of Europe,” Jefferson cautioned. “They are nations of eternal war. All their energies are expended in the destruction of the labor, property and lives of their people."

America heeded this advice until World War I, when we began interventions which made our country a Superpower and embroiled us in our current quagmires. Most Americans believe we should decree world policy, but our Founders would strongly disagree. Jefferson once said, “The presumption of dictating to an independent nation the form of its government is so arrogant, so atrocious, that indignation as well as moral sentiment enlists all our partialities and prayers in favor of one and our equal execrations against the other."

Even if the Founders felt our actions were moral, they would question America’s sustainability. Our armed forces are the most dominant in history, as were Rome’s in antiquity, and Britain’s in colonial times. Mighty militaries are costly, and we are amassing monstrous debts much like Rome and Britain, mortgaging the future to dominate the present. No nation can truly rule the world, yet each new Empire burns itself out trying, as we are now with our Pax Americana. Our Founding Fathers would be profoundly saddened by this historically suicidal course.

For a few casualties more, modern leaders assure us, peace awaits. Our Founders would be more than skeptical. Each year their endangered view of non-intervention edges closer to extinction. Iraq is not yet subdued, but Iran already seems a foregone conclusion, and public opposition appears to matter little.

If they led today, our Founders would “disentangle” America from its Empire while preserving security and nurturing global liberty. Washington, Jefferson and Franklin realized certain principles must be preserved with blood, but they were also visionary statesmen who resisted seduction by those eternal temptresses Empire and War.

Welcome to The Junto!

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Junto - Caveat Emptor: The Abramoff Scandal

Junto - The Tax Man Cometh

Junto - For A Few Casualties More: Memorial Day

Junto - Is The Melting Pot Boiling Over?

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