![]() Standing armies are like carnivorous beasts that have to kill to stay alive, to stay in fighting trim, to stay relevant. Once you have an all-powerful standing army, who or what is to keep it in check?Īrmies are about killing people and destroying things. ![]() Noam Chomsky said, “States are violent to the extent that they are powerful.” All that power has to go somewhere. Has there ever been an army that was not used? Name one. Aggressive elements within the armed state will try to use it for their own ends. Once you have a standing army, somebody is going to want to use it. ![]() All it takes is a little fear-mongering propaganda. “Standing armies,” said Immanuel Kant, “are the cause of aggressive wars.” Armies created under the guise of defense very easily become offensive armies, without even realizing it. And the other guy uses the same argument against you. You have to have a standing army, the argument goes, just in case the other guy attacks. Has there ever been an army that did not claim that God was on its side? But self-defense is the lie that makes aggressive wars possible by making standing armies acceptable to decent people. It is always “the other guy” who started it. ![]() ![]() They don’t like to admit to being the aggressor. Jeanette Rankin disagreed, saying that preparation for war leads to war.Īrmies always claim self-defense. Albert Einstein said that the way to prevent wars is to prepare for them. ![]()
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