Freedom, Society, and State - Ludwig von Mises Institute

. War.
A second, vi tally important, means for the growth
oft hest ate i s wa r . Her e the i nd i v i d ua listanarchis t
turns, in part icular, to the wr i t ings of Randolph
B 0 urn e • Bourne be I ieve s that the s tate is" the ins t r ument
by which the whole herd is wielded for the benefit
of a class." It follows that the more powerful the
s tat e, the mo r e en t r enc hedther u 1 i n g .e lite, the bet t e r
able it is to benefit itself. Hence, says Bourne, "The
ideal of the State is that within its territory its
power and influence should be universal." But even in
a .d em 0 era c y the rna j 0 r i t y migh t we 11 res i s t na ked a t ­
tempts by the state to restrict free speech or impose
an overriding uniformity. Hence, what is required is
some justification for state action. And since it is
precisely in war that this justification is most easily
and clearly found, Bourne concludes that "war is the
health of the state." Once war breaks out "Old nationa
I idea 1 s are taken out, re-adapted to the purpose and
use d a sun i v e r sal to uc hs ton e s, 0 r mo Ids i n t 0 wh i c h a I 1
thought is poured." Dissent, which was permitted in
times of peace, is usually outlawed in times of war.
"Criticism of the State, objections to war, lukewarm
opinions concerning the necessity or the beauty of cons
c rip t ion, are rna des ub j e c t t 0 fer 0 c i 0 us pena I ties far
exceeding in severity those affixed to actual pragmatic
cr imes. Publ ic opinion •.• becomes one solid block.
y Loyal t y " 0 r rat her war 0 r thodox y, bec omesthe sol e
test for all professions, techniques, occupations."(24)
But what is especially striking is the realization
that once the population is infused with a war psychology,
all else follows automatically. For wars, at
I e a s t 0 U r mod ern "d em 0 era tic" wa r s wh i c h depend for
the irsuc c e s son rna s s suppo r tanden t h us i am, are i nva r ­
iably presented in terms of a struggle for righteous
and human i tar ian goals. The enemy is dehumanized and
the complex and often subtle differences in culture and
policies are presented in simplistic black and white
terms. (25) War is thereby transformed into a moral
crusade to "make the world safe for democracy," to
" des t roy tot a lit a rian ism," 0 r to" con t a i n Comm un i s TTl • "
And not only does this crusade provide a welcome contrast
to the mundane chores of daily living but, perhaps
even more importantly, it infuses life with a
meaningfulness it never had during peacetime. It is
th i s tha t largely explains that striking phenomenon of
the outpouring of voluntary sacrifice, of millions of
men w i I lin g 1 Y rna r chi ng tot he i r near 1y c e r t a i n dea t h s ,
86