War against Peace
I've recently begun reading articles from the site LewRockwell.com. I don't remember how I came across the site, nor what drew me to it. But, as someone who regards himself as an uneducated libertarian, I found something that drew me in.
I certainly don't agree with every piece I've read on the site or even with everything said in a piece I broadly agree with. But I find it interesting and stimulating. Today I read "The War Against Life" by a gentleman called Butler Shaffer. Here is a taster:
It is interesting to observe so many Americans trying to find "meaning" in the Bush administrations war against an endless parade of "enemies." From Afghanistan to Iraq to North Korea, the state continues to concoct "threats" for the consumption of a public that is neither empirically nor analytically demanding. The media are quick to play their assigned roles, providing state-generated "information" and self-styled "experts" to convince the rest of us that everything the White House tells us is "just so," and that anyone who dissents from or even questions the states purposes or policies is likely an apologist for terrorism!
and a summary:
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From Afghanistan to Iraq to North Korea, the state continues to concoct "threats" for the consumption of a public that is neither empirically nor analytically demanding.
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The state's ability to gull most of its citizens into an acceptance of politically defined reality has been made possible by one of the few successful state institutions: the government school system.
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Contrary to those who look upon government schools as failures, I have long regarded them as shining accomplishments for state purposes: to produce herd-oriented men and women incapable of making independent judgments, and who are thus prepared to submit to external authorities for direction in their lives.
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While the bald eagle does represent the predatory nature of the state, I believe it is time to adopt a national symbol that more accurately reflects the mindset of most Americans: the parrot!
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Much of the explanation, I suspect, is to be found in our sense of fear: both of ourselves and others.
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That question was the subject of inquiry for a book, published in 1967, titled Report From Iron Mountain on the Possibility and Desirability of Peace.
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We must understand all of politics -- no matter in what nation it is practiced -- as a system that wars against the very nature of life.