Defense is listed under "Foreign Policy" because
Defense is no longer viewed solely as the Founding Fathers viewed it --
as the defense of our homeland against foreign invaders -- but now
embraces U.S. military intervention in foreign nations.
Liberty and Security
Although the federal government spends hundreds of billions of dollars
a year on "defense," few Americans feel as secure as they did 15
or 20 years ago. Even if we doubled that budget, we would not feel more
secure. In fact, if we shipped more arms to foreign nations, doubled the
number of soldiers wearing jungle camouflage in our airports, and
increased the number of bombs that are capable of obliterating millions of
non-combatant civilians, we would probably have an even greater feeling of
insecurity. We would feel that our liberties were even more threatened.
Suppose that instead of increasing the defense budget, we radically
slashed it. How would this affect our nation's security?
Surprisingly, the more we cut, the more secure we will be.
Even the most inexperienced political observer can guess that the 109th
Congress will not cut the defense budget by much, if at all. We can only
imagine the effect on Congress and upon the national debate if a
Congressman boldly and articulately advocated the following:
Privatization
The
Independent Institute | Larry Sechrest | “Let Privateers Troll for Bin
Laden”
The
National Defense Myth by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.
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