continued from “Libertarianism is against aggression (1)”
The Russian leadership can, and should, at any time, the sooner the better, recall their invading force, resign, apologize, stand trial and start paying reparations for their crimes.
Now why would a libertarian call for anything else?
Libertarianism is about a beautiful vision of a free society
What is the point of a detailed account of an inferior plan that cannot be realized?
– David Gordon, “In Our Hands: A Plan to Replace the Welfare State, by Charles Murray”
But beyond this, we have to ask: What’s the purpose of our little argument? Whatever we libertarians decide, it’s certainly not going to affect national policy. It would be one thing if Cox, or you dear reader, for some reason had the power to decide whether the nation would have federal border patrols or not — and at the same time lacked the authority to alter any other federal policies.
But that’s not the situation. We aren’t going to convince politicians on immigration, just as they ignore us on taxes and minimum wage legislation.
That’s why the purpose of libertarian writing is to provide the general public with a consistent and beautiful vision of a free society.
– Robert P. Murphy, “Upsidedown Luddism: The Case of Immigration”
Libertarianism is about a beautiful vision of a free society, it is not about… Mass murder tactics.
Yet here we have this astonishing proposal:
I do think the chance of a wider war would be far less if the Kremlin had committed all of the invasion forces and used whatever conventional weapons necessary regardless of civilian casualties to quickly end the war, while refusing to be delayed and distracted by negotiations and Western bleating. Having made a decisive decision, the Russians needed to demonstrate decisive military action.
– Paul Craig Roberts, “A Quick Decisive Victory Can Prevent a Wider War”
Now Paul Craig Roberts is certainly no libertarian1, yet he gets published regularly on “LRC” (henceforth: the Lew Rockwell Cesspool), the website of none other than Lew Rockwell2, founder and chairman of the Ludwig von Mises Institute3.
And no, this awful view is not an isolated opinion. Here is Daniel McAdams, the Executive Director of the “Ron Paul Institute for Peace (sic) and Prosperity” defending it and then some:
Thus Lew Rockwell is derided as “er, libertarian ‘anti-war’” for featuring a piece by Paul Craig Roberts that accurately pointed out that if Russia had adopted US tactics and gone in for full scorched earth in Ukraine the conflict would have been over very quickly thus reducing the possibility for a wider war, as we are seeing today… Surely a quick strike, leveling Ukraine as the US leveled Fallujah and Sirte and much of Baghdad would have rapidly established facts on the ground
– Daniel McAdams, “‘Regime Libertarians’ Go Neocon on Ukraine”
This is the same McAdams who was sooo certain that Russia would not invade, screaming insults4 at anyone who would dare accuse dear innocent Putin5 of such intentions. Now he is equally certain that as long as Russia is allowed to slaughter enough Ukrainian civilians, it won’t hurt anyone else. Really? What’s next?
Now this raises, obviously, objections on many levels from any sane person:
- This is not libertarianism, but an abhorrent call for war crimes, with an invalid, irrelevant “justification”. Libertarianism is deontological, not consequentialist. Libertarianism is based on individual rights, not interpersonal utility comparisons, etc etc.
- Even if it were somehow acceptable, it would still be an inferior solution, by far, to “The Russian leadership can, and should, at any time, the sooner the better, recall their invading force, resign, apologize, stand trial and start paying reparations for their crimes.” These authors don’t event suggest that “the Russians” could and should have refrained from said “decisive action” (sic) altogether.
- The authors of this proposal have provided no evidence as to how they have any more power to achieve that inferior solution to the preferrable one. Does Mr Roberts have the power to convince Mr Putin to murder more civilians, to bomb Ukraine with even less regard for civilian casualties, yet somehow lacks the power to convince Mr Putin to not bomb (or to immediately stop bombing) Ukraine in the first place? (We hope not.)
- It does appear that the Russian army is already committing many war crimes and atrocities. There is no evidence whatsoever, that were it to commit even more of them, this would somehow lead to a happy outcome (e.g., had Russia achieved a “Quick Decisive Victory”, what evidence is there that it would not have felt bolstered to invade further? What evidence is there it would not commit crimes against defenseless Ukrainians under occupation? etc. etc. : these authors don’t know that, can’t know that, and are very likely utterly wrong.)6
What “the Russians” needed and need to do is to make the decisive decision to recall their invading force, resign, apologize, stand trial and start paying reparations for their crimes.
Libertarianism is not aggressive-war-militarism
Any sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice
– Grey’s Law
Now this is all so obvious, so basic, that it’s very difficult to believe these authors could genuinely believe, either that deliberate massive war crimes are compatible with libertarianism, or that they have the power to influence the Russian regime to commit them as some sort of second-best solution (but no power to influence them to the ideal libertarian solution), or that libertarianism is suddenly consequentialist and they somehow achieved omniscience (they know exactly the consequences of everything!), or revolutionized libertarian theory (or indeed, any valid reasoning) into some sort of socialism where sacrificing some for the benefit of others would be acceptable (It’s a surprise, with such omniscience at their disposal, that they haven’t solved the economic calculation under socialism problem yet.)
This does not leave open that many alternative explanations, certainly none very flattering.
Diving deeper into the Lew Rockwell Cesspool, however, the reader with a strong stomach will find more clues7.
Now, with the frantic daily irrational propaganda blitz demonizing Vladimir Putin and the Russians, here is a brief documentary program that will not be airing on CNN, MSNBC, ABC, PBS, CBS, FOX, or on Social Media platforms. It shows the deep-seated nationalist reverence the patriotic and traditionalist Russian people have had for their unique combination of reverential Orthodox religious faith and honoring their military.
– Charles Burris, “The Main Cathedral of the Russian Armed Forces”, February 23, 2022
Militaristic propaganda8… Right on the eve of the invasion. Then we have this, quotation marks on “casualties” included:
The ideological cornerstone of American statism is the Lincoln myth, concocted around the man who waged total war on his own civilian population in the Southern states, killing at least 50,000 civilians according to Lincoln cultist James McPherson. The real number is bound to be much higher, coming from the “dean” of the Lincoln cult. These were not “collateral damage” in a foreign country, but almost exclusively American women, children, and old men. Then of course “we” dropped Atomic bombs on two Japanese cities occupied almost entirely by civilians; firebombed European cities full of civilians; mass murdered tens of thousands of Plains Indians; killed some 200,000 Filipinos, thousands of Vietnamese civilians, Koreans, Iraqis, Afghans, and on and on and on. But Boobus Americanus is now supposed to believe that only Big Bad Putin would do such things.
– Thomas J. DiLorenzo, “Crocodile Tears Over Ukrainian Civilian ‘Casualties’”
What exactly does Lincoln (1809 – 1865) have to do with Putin’s actions in 2014-2022?
And then we have this, a bit older, but then again the war against Ukraine started eight years ago:
– Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr., “Russia Is a Beacon of Promise for a Christian Future” July 12, 2018
A Lutheran Pastor Explains.
The American military is a regime change janissary force for Israel, the banks, and the fossil fuels cartel - and Russia is standing up to it […]
I explained that in my view, Russia was not only a post-Communist society coming out of a 70 year tragedy, but that Putin and the Russian Orthodox Church were jointly leading the country into a pre-Bolshevik spiritual, moral, and political renaissance based on Christianity.
I went on to say that Putin’s Russia was the last and best bastion against the New World Order itself, deliberately targeted by globalist forces for this very reason. Using his smart phone, I pointed him to both Russia Insider and Russian Faith as necessary alternatives to American Mainstream Media (MSM) for his careful consideration.
Let us check the other mentioned “necessary alternatives to American Mainstream Media” website then:
“Russia’s Holy War Against the West”
Russian peacekeeping troops are carrying out a special operation in order to apply the Nuremburg process to all of Europe. [...]
What’s worse was when Orthodox people, almost two hundred priests, sent an appeal to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, asking him to help stop the war. [...]
I repeat that what is being done now is not some kind of local, not a local operation. Today we are talking about cleansing Europe from any trace of fascism, which can give nothing to the world except ISIS and Bandera.
Well. The author of “Russia Is a Beacon of Promise for a Christian Future” being also the author of “The Primer for the Zionist Assault on the American Republic and the Nation of Iran”, unsurprisingly, we find on this “necessary alternatives to American Mainstream Media” website, such “interesting” articles as “World War II: The Foundational Lie of Our Era” (“World War II was Churchill’s War, not Hitler’s war… In contrast to the British aristocrat, Hitler was a man of the people. He acted for the German people.”), “The Case That 9/11 Was an Israeli Attack on the US Is ‘Overwhelmingly Strong’ - Ron Unz”, “How Jews Gave America Gay Marriage”, “The REAL Holocaust: The 1915 Armenian Genocide and its Russophobic Origins”, “We Must Dismantle Jewish Supremacy - Silence Is Not an Option”, etc.
“Russia Insider” is heavily reposted on the Lew Rockwell Cesspool.
The “Russian Faith” website, the one advocating for “Holy War Against the West” has been introduced on the Lew Rockwell Cesspool as:
Russian Faith, a new website with news about the Christian renaissance in Russia.
Articles from that website have also been republished on the Lew Rockwell Cesspool, such as:
“For Christians Interested in Moving to Russia: Here Are Your Options”
Editor’s note: As the Western world becomes more aggressively godless, more people have been looking towards Russia as the last place where they are free to raise a Christian family and leading a life of faith. Some have made the ultimate step and moved to Russia in their search for a Christian society where the establishment supports Christian values and beliefs and is not trying to destroy them.9
“Putin Adores Huge, Traditional Families and He’s Not Afraid to Show It”
Let Western media label these photos as “creepy” as they wish; we find Putin’s personal interest in traditional families–and the families themselves–downright charming. What do you think?
What do we think, indeed.
Libertarianism is about the right to live in a free society
Q: Is it true that there is freedom of speech in the USSR, just like in the USA?
A: Yes. In the USA, you can stand in front of the White House in Washington, DC, and yell, “Down with Ronald Reagan,” and you will not be punished. Equally, you can also stand in Red Square in Moscow and yell, “Down with Ronald Reagan,” and you will not be punished.
Любому ватнику, который утверждает, что фашизм не в России, а в Украине, надо предложить выйти с плакатом “Нет фашизму” в Киеве и в Москве. Где за это накажут - там и фашизм.10
When they are not advising dictators on how to lead their wars of aggression, or reposting propaganda from state-owned media, or praising and linking to websites calling for holy war, these “anti-state, anti-war, pro-market” (anti-)libertarians are surprisingly (or not…) silent on Russia itself.
The growing fascism of the regime, forcing children to form their idiotic military symbols, the growing persecution of libertarians, the ban of anti-war protests, indeed the censorship of the very use of the word war… Are all ignored. No criticism whatsoever of Russia’s open anti-liberalism and anti-libertarianism.
A case in point is the article “Facing Unpleasant Facts: What You aren’t Supposed to say about the War in Ukraine”. Ukraine is wrongly called the most corrupt country in Europe… Guess which country is the correct answer.
Moreover, the author seems to be doing just fine saying them. Conversely, were the author living in Russia (maybe if he followed the good advice above and emigrated there!), he could end up in jail just for that title:
In two internal emails, …, employees of the chemical company are required to no longer speak of “war in Ukraine” within the firm and in external communication. … According to the two emails from Ems-Chemie, employees must use the phrase “Ukrainian conflict” because the use of the word “war” in connection with Ukraine is punishable by imprisonment in Russia.
– “The expression ‘war in Ukraine’ is banned within Ems-Chemie”
The Lew Rockwell Cesspool, claiming to be “antiwar” and “antistate”, advising its readers to move to ultra-statist, ultra-militaristic Russia, where antiwar protesters are jailed, the very word “war” is censored, and dissenting from the government war propaganda is punishable by 15 years of prison.
We have words for that: useful idiots of the void.
continued in “Libertarianism is against aggression (3)”
