Just be nice


until it's time to not be nice
I don't want to spend a lot of time on the Norman Podhoretz article in Commentary. It's a great article, but it is still background.

I'm one of the very few libertarians who "support" the war, and I had a lot longer to think about it than George Bush did. I talk about my reasons elsewhere, I won't go into them again here.

No, to me the real story is the disconnect between what the major Democrats said about Iraq before President Bush was sworn in and what they are saying now. They were hawks until it was time to put lives on the line. That reduces foreign policy to little more than a bluff in poker.

War is a terrible thing, and should never be used by a civilized people. Unless the alternatives are worse.

That last line seems to be the difference between my view and the official anti-war view these days.

No, I don't think the Bush Administration handled the war especially well. However, I can't see a Democrat President doing better, and I think that either Mr. Gore or Senator Kerry would have done worse. Especially based on their past behavior.

Multiculturalism does share one thing with libertarianism, the unspoken assumption that everyone is going to play nice and by the rules. Some libertarians are stuck at that point, if the others don't play by the rules, there is very little that they are prepared to do. Others like me believe that you stop playing by those rules when the other guy ignores them. And then you ruthlessly eliminate them. The cost is high, but when the cost of inaction is higher yet, there is no good choice left. There are only less bad choices.

Or, to paraphrase the movie Roadhouse, you be nice. Even when the other guy is in your face, you be nice. Just be nice. Until it's time to not be nice.

I've yet to seen any variety of multiculturalism that can make that adjustment. I have seen some forms of libertarianism that can.

— NeoWayland

Posted: Fri - November 11, 2005 at 05:25 AM  Tag


 ◊  ◊   ◊  ◊ 

Random selections from NeoWayland's library


Pagan Vigil "Because LIBERTY demands more than just black or white"
© 2005 - 2009 All Rights Reserved