24 September 2006
Madison on War
Posted by tony under: Politics .
“War is in fact the true nurse of executive aggrandizement. In war a physical force is created, and it is the executive will to direct it. In war the public treasures are to be unlocked, and it is the executive hand which is to dispense them. In war the honors and emolulments of office are to be multiplied; and it is the executive patronage under which they are to be enjoyed. It is in war finally that laurels are to be gathered, and it is the executive brow they are to encircle. The strongest passions and the most dangerous weaknesses of the human breast - ambition, avarice, vanity, the honorable or venial love of fame - are all in conspiracy against the desire and duty of peace.”
Nothing more needs to be said.
