Veterans Day Words of Wisdom

“Whenever the [U.S.] government went to war, whether the war was real or metaphorical, it necessarily went to war against the liberties of its own citizens.  Of course, it invariably justified these assaults on liberty by characterizing them as necessary, merely temporary means of preserving the people’s liberties in the longer run. . .That claim was either a mistake or a lie, because the U.S. government did not need to go to war, not even in the world wars, in order to preserve its people’s essential liberties and their way of life: neither Kaiser Wilhelm’s forces nor Hitler’s — and certainly not Japan’s — had the capacity to deprive Americans of their liberties, ‘take over the country,’ ‘destroy our way of life,’ or do anything of the sort.  This country has always contained persecuted minorities, and it still does; but since 1789, the only government on earth that has had the power to crush the American people’s liberties across the board has been the government of the United States.” (emphasis added).

—Robert Higgs, “America Won the World Wars, but Americans Lost”

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7:41 am on November 11, 2010