Militant Empire -- Our Albatross

By Chris Rossini

The last thing a citizen should desire is for his nation to be a militant empire. It's a recipe for disaster. It means constant war, constant propaganda, and ultimate bankruptcy.

History is littered with so many examples of failed empires that it's amazing human beings continually refuse to learn a lesson.

From the Romans, Macedonians and Greeks, to the Persians and Ottomans. Don't forget Napoleon, Hitler and the Soviets. And how can you forget the British and (with great irony) the country that separated from the British ... America!

America?

Even America would make the mistake of empire?

You bet it would, and did.

And we're the lucky ones who get to pick up the pieces.

Was the separation of the American colonies really about liberty? Or was it about creating yet another empire? King George III thought it was the latter, saying: "The rebellious war...is manifestly carried on for the purpose of establishing an independent empire."

Was King George III right?

It didn't seem so at first.

America, while certainly not the Garden of Eden, was the land of the free compared to the Old World of the 1700's. Prosperity naturally followed. After all, freedom allows for creativity and innovation. It allows for the accumulation of capital and investment of that capital into productive enterprises.

Up until about 1900, Americans could have said with confidence:

"King George III was wrong! We're not an empire. We have no colonies and don't meddle in the affairs of other nations. We're not trying to conquer the world. We don't participate in foreign coups, or provide 'foreign aid.' We don't support 'freedom fighters' or arm one side (or both sides) of foreign wars."

Not only did America mind its own business, the federal government was an insignificant part of the lives of the average American. 

Americans didn't make up fictional "rights" and expect the government to grant them these "rights." Americans didn't receive handouts, or pay any income tax!

But then things changed around 1900 ... for the worse.

Of course, all change starts with the change of ideas. Listen to what Senator Albert Beveridge said around this time. He said that God made Americans "the master organizers of the world to establish system where chaos reigns...He has marked the American people as His chosen nation to finally lead in the regeneration of the world."

But that's just one person, right?

After all, we have Lindsey Graham today. It doesn't mean Americans agree with Graham (thankfully).

Well, then you had President Woodrow Wilson, who claimed: "We shall give all that we love and all that we have to redeem the world and make it fit for free men like ourselves to live in."

These are the words of empire.

We humans have the ability to delude ourselves. Politicians are professionals when it comes to delusions.

This change of ideas was buttressed by a "progressive" ideology. Remember, it all starts with ideas.

No longer would Americans be in the driver's seat of their own lives. Government was going to take over and micromanage all aspects of our lives. They would do this "scientifically," of course. "Experts" would guide Americans on how they should live.

Americans would take this "progressive" delusion and export it onto the world, by force. After all, if "experts" can dictate how Americans must live, why stop there? Let's dictate how the whole world should live!

It's all "scientific," so don't worry.

At this time the income tax came along as well. Now the federal government had its hand in every person's pocket.

You don't "redeem the world" for free you know.

But even that wouldn't be enough. You can only tax away so much.

Well, the shackles would be locked onto American ankles with the founding of the Federal Reserve. The Fed would have a monopoly on the money, and could counterfeit it into existence. The government would have it's very own, shiny printing press.

Government could now tax Americans with inflation, and the people will never know. The people will think that merchants are being "greedy" when prices skyrocket. They won't figure out that it's actually the government's printing press.

It's amazing how things can go downhill so fast, isn't it?

It has only been 120 years (which is a blink of an eye) and American liberty and prosperity have been snuffed away. The government is $34 TRILLION in debt and counting. That can't be paid, so there will have to be a financial day of reckoning. And America has about 1,000 military bases peppered all over the world, and is at constant war...."redeeming the world."

So was King George III right?

Well, if you look at America today, how can you say that he wasn't?

It's evident that Americans, over our 248 year history, have had two ways of living.

One -- with limited government, tremendous freedom, tremendous prosperity, and minding our own business when it comes to other nations.

And the other -- the biggest government in the history of the world, freedom that is hanging on by a thread, and bankrupting ourselves by interfering everywhere in the world.

If we want to go back to freedom, we need to adopt those "old" ideas again. We need to ditch the "progressive" and "expert" nonsense. Politicians cannot run our lives. They can only ruin our lives by trying.

We should set our sites on making sure that King George III ends up being ultimately wrong when it's all said and done.