The time is near. As we enter the millennium, here are some reflections on the bloody 20th Century. It has been a century marked by unprecedented carnage. There have been "cold wars" alternating with "hot wars" along with a never-ending "drug war." More sophisticated propaganda and brainwashing techniques have accompanied tremendous improvements in the implements of mass murder. For most of the world the "war on poverty" has been a dismal failure despite a century of steady improvements in the arts of production. Where will it all end?

PERPETUAL WAR FOR PERPETUAL PEACE

Throuhout recorded history, "peace on earth" has been a utopian dream. War has taken different forms from regional skirmishes to worldwide conflagrations. The difference between aggression and defense has become blurred. For an external "enemy", the dispute often revolves around rival claims to territory. In the case of the "enemy" within, any number of reasons can be advanced for attacking some segment of the domestic population. But beneath these varied manifestations of war there must be a common denominator. The sine qua non of war is the existence of the political state.

WAR IS THE HEALTH OF THE STATE

Following his disillusionment over U.S. entry into WWI, Randolph Bourne penned the immortal phrase War is the Health of the State. See Bourne quote. Bourne was certainly correct in distinguishing between a natural love of country and the propaganda of the state apparatus in promoting militarism and jingoism. Another astute observer was General Smedley Butler who recognized the unholy alliance of powerful multi-national interests and the state. See War is a Racket

History books are replete with details of wars during the past thousand years. Aggrandizement of state power has accompanied decline in social power. The 20th Century has seen the slaughter of hundreds of millions by those possessing and those seeking state power. Here are some of these wars

• South African(Boer War)
• Russo-Japanese War
• World War I
• Chinese civil wars
• Sino-Japanese War
• Spanish civil war
• World War II
• Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, 1917, continuing with Bolshevik-Communist wars (both hot and cold) against other statist powers
• Korean war
• Indochina war (first France vs Vietnam and then U.S. vs Vietnam
• Israeli-Arab wars since 1947
• Iraq-Iran war
• Soviet Union-Afghanistan war
• Gulf war
• Yugoslav-Bosnian war
• British-IRA war

  This does not include all the wars in South and Central America as well as on the continent of Africa.

  Throughout the century there have been vicious trade wars and embargos. During the last third of the 20th Century, an escalating drug war has resulted in death and incarceration for millions.

THE SOCIAL CONTRACT MYTH

The English philosopher, Thomas Hobbes, in describing the state of nature in Leviathan said

To this war of everyman against everyman, this also is consequent, that nothing can be unjust. The notions of right and wrong, justice and injustice, have there no place. Where there is no common power, there is no law: where no law, no injustice. Force and fraud are in war the two cardinal virtues. Justice and injustice are none of the faculties either of the body or mind. If they were, they might be in a man that were alone in the world, as well his senses and passions. They are qualities that relate to men in society, not in solitude...

Rousseau and other social contract theorists attempted to define the role of the state as a)to protect life b)to protect property and c)to secure the greatest happiness for the greatest number. But the reality is that there never has and never could have been a social contract.

Every state had its origin in force and fraud.One aspect is the attempt to establish a monopoly of violence, coercion, and retribution over a specific geographic area. More fundamental to the nature of the state is the utilization of the political means rather than the economic means to obtain wealth. (See Outlines of Sociology by Ludwig Gumplowicz and The State by Franz Oppenheimer)

By pointing out the elements of a real contract, the American libertarian, Lysander Spooner, completely demolished any credence in the social contract myth. Click the link at the bottom for the full text of Spooner's NO TREASON THE CONSTITUTION OF NO AUTHORITY.

THE POLITICAL STATE AS ORGANIZED CRIME

Organized crime is usually identified with the mafia, drug cartels, the syndicate, etc. But their activities are insignificant compared with the massive crimes of the state. It can not be denied that there are degrees of civility and humanitarian impulses. Some states are more barbaric than others. But even the best of them are involved in murder and theft. The French philosopher, Proudhon, described what it means to be governed; See Proudhon quote.

In his inimitable style, Albert Jay Nock caught the essence of this nefarious institution in the following passage;

Taking the State wherever found, striking into its history at any point, one sees no way to differentiate the activities of its founders, administrators and beneficiaries from those of a professional criminal class.

CONCLUSION

For the past thousand years there have been wars beyond enumeration. With improvements in the arts of production and technological advancement, the 20th Century has been the bloodiest of all-not a day passing without war somewhere on the globe. It is no coincidence that the growth of state power in the 20th Century has accompanied increased militarism and jingoism. The governmental forms have changed from kings and emperors to sovereignty under constitutional republics, parliamentary systems, so-called democracies with mass voting. But the beast has not and cannot change its spots. The state remains an institution for plunder, for exploitation, and for the benefit of some at the expense of others. For those who anticipate "peace in our time"-forget it. Peace is incompatible with the nature of the state. It cannot protect you. It can only make war.

Links to full texts

Spooner's No Treason

Nock's OurEnemy the State

radav@webtv.net March, 1999.

Note:the events of Sept 11, 2001 confirm the thesis of this website