The Intellectual Patriarch of Neoconservative Economics
December 22, 2010
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"Pigrum quin immo et iners videtur sudore adquirere quod possis sanguine parare."
It seems feckless, nay more, even slothful, to acquire something by toil and sweat which you could grab by the shedding of blood. - Tacitus, Germania, p. 14
It is naive, perhaps even intentionally dishonest, to presume that economics does not play a role in empire building. It is the driving force. The Nazis, for example, were known to openly cajole their subjects to think it was their right to acquire resources found in other lands that Germany lacked. American neoconservatives share this trait. Why talk and trade with other nations, when you can take what you want by force? Indeed, the only serious complaint lodged by neoconservative supporters against the war in Iraq is that not enough has been done to extract every last resource from the Iraqi ground to "make it worth our while."
From another perspective, we see what happens when someone advocates peaceful relations, the relations under which commerce flourishes. They are branded as isolationists - a gross distorition of the term which means cutting yourself off completely from others. Those who advocate peaceful relations with others are derided as spineless, even feckless.
After all, from the neoconservative point of view, just like Tacitus, might makes right. Only the lazy would restrain from using their power. We see in Tacitus' words the true nature of power, that working with your fellow man is just downright stupid, when you could instead slice his throat and take what you want.
David in Qatar
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