reprinted from January 14, 2004

  Peace on Earth. An ideal never to be reached? Naive? Unrealistic? Many think so, even though they wish otherwise. Libertarians have a plan for worldwide peace that can bring about one of those "thump-yourself-on-the-head-damn-that-actually-makes-sense" reactions.

First, accept that wars are caused by governments. There are some wars in which citizen groups are on one side of a conflict, opposing government forces, but those are almost exclusively when a government has been so oppressive that citizens take up arms in resistance.

Those wars and conflicts started by governments are seldom done with the willing support of the citizenry, because war, even when waged elsewhere, is expensive and upsets the economy of all participants. It also means the loss of many young citizens. If a government is powerful enough, it can sway public opinion through the use of trickery, lies, patriotic fervor and propaganda, and may get a majority of the citizenry to believe that the war is necessary, at least temporarily. It's hard to imagine a worse example of a citizenry being tricked into war support than we're experiencing right now in the U.S. Without bald-faced lies, deception, and a complicit media, the War in Iraq would be supported by almost none of the American public. When scholars at the Army War College, who are in the business of waging war, call the War in Iraq an "unnecessary war"  it should make every citizen sit up and take notice.

Second, realize that individual citizens interact with each other constantly, and travel to foreign countries with almost no conflict with others. Humans are naturally peaceful, and can, for the most part, be counted on to interact with each other as equals not seeking dominance. Most of us do it intuitively, but we  are also raised with moral or religious standards that teach us to "do unto others as we would have them do unto us", or as libertarians often put it, "Live and let live".

One of the strong reasons we have for interacting peacefully with each other is that we work together, or play together, and trade with many others. It is self-serving to avoid conflict, because even personal conflict is time-consuming and costly. We learn to work together in ways that prevent conflict, because it is to each of our advantages. It isn't often perfect... we deal with some people or organizations we're not crazy about, because the advantages outweigh the disadvantages... meaning that we still "win" from the relationship. We may also look for an alternative that is more to our advantage.

Powerful governments are the major destroyers of peace.
How can we keep our government from being warlike?

1. Keep our government as small as possible. I've written on this issue before, but the point is so important. When we grant power to government, for any reason we may think is good, we grant it the power to also do what we don't want. When we encourage government to violate some people to benefit others, we give it the power to violate anyone. When we ask government to act as a "policeman to the world", we invite it to wage war anywhere it chooses, for whatever reason it chooses. We've been doing that for 60+ years now, and we're reaping the results... a government that is so massive that it does whatever it damned well pleases, sloughing off criticism, protecting itself from attempts at correction, and becoming an easy host for power-mongers.

2. Demand free trade with other nations. Nations that allow extensive trade with each other do not wage war against each other. It really is that simple. People in nations with free trade do not want to lose their customers in other nations, so war between them becomes almost unthinkable. If it weren't for government restrictions, people would trade freely with people in other nations, and those who trade with each other build peaceful relations. It was a refusal by the U.S. to trade with Japan that made Japan consider attacking the U.S. in desperate retaliation. In Iraq, a 12 years of sanctions enforced by the U.S. devastated their economy so badly that it caused immense hatred that we're still paying for.

3. Keep our noses out of the business of other nations. The U.S. now has more military power than the rest of the world combined, and it's more sophisticated... and terribly expensive. It also has a presence in the territory of about 100 other nations... a fact that is often resented or hated by the citizens of those nations. We get away with it because we are the "biggest bully on the block", and few other governments are willing to risk making an enemy of our government. That is a terrible and destructive way to achieve anything. It's pure brute force and it will always create hatred and mistrust.

We've been sold the bill of goods that we should do everything we can to force the rest of the world into democracy. There are a number of serious errors in that proposition:

a. Democracy is not even our form of government... it's an incorrect term. The U.S. is a federal republic, not a democracy. The founders of our nation hated democracy for good reason... it means that the majority can do whatever it wants, and that any minorities can be forced into submission.

b. We should not be seeking to "export" our form of government to others with the use of force. The only effective way to get, and maintain, a form of government based on freedom, is for the citizenry to understand the value of it, and to demand it. over and over again, the U.S. has interfered in internal affairs of other nations and produced a result that is as bad or worse than before they interfered. Iraq is an salient example: the U.S. interfered many years ago, and enabled Saddam Hussein to take control of the government, equipped him to fight his enemies and to put down resistance to his takeover. We are now reaping the result of our own government's interference in the affairs of Iraq. Iraq is but one example of the U.S. creating it's own future enemies.

c. As in all affairs, FORCE never produces good results. We cannot, and should not even try to, FORCE others to accept our kind of government, even if we were still proud of our government. Citizens of other nations must take responsibility for their own affairs... we are having quite enough trouble trying to control our own government without trying to export the same problems to other nations. When the U.S. began as an independent nation, founded with a Constitution designed to protect liberty, it was quickly recognized by people around the globe, who then demanded similar freedoms from their governments. The desire and demand for individual freedom from government oppression spread like wildfire. The U.S. served as an example of liberty. It wasn't necessary to force other nations to follow... they could see the advantages, and wanted it for themselves.

Government is not the means to achieve peace. Only by getting governments out the way and allowing the people to freely interact with each other is peace possible. The smaller our government is, the less it interferes with other nations, and the greater the opportunity for peace.

from the Libertarian Party 2000
National Campaign Platform:

Republicans and Democrats alike think your child should be cannon fodder in their plans to police the world. They have created the greatest national offense in history - capable of annihilating any country, bullying small nations into accepting agreements fashioned by our President, and imposing on other countries "human rights" that don't exist in this country.

At the same time, we have a very weak national defense - incapable of protecting this country from any dictator who can get his hands on a nuclear missile.

Libertarians do not want your children to fight or die in a foreign war. Libertarians do not want terrorists targeting your city in order to gain revenge on a meddling U.S. government.

Libertarians want to restore the foreign policy of Washington and Jefferson - a foreign policy that wishes good will toward people everywhere and is a threat to no other country.