War Is Not a Conservative Thing

by | Nov 8, 2019

War Is Not a Conservative Thing

by | Nov 8, 2019

Perpetual war and aggressive interventionism have become the hallmark of Republican foreign policy. But war is not a conservative thing.

Last month, I saw somebody assert unironically and in complete seriousness that Californians need to reelect Rep. Maxine Waters (D) “if we want to preserve the Constitution!”

This further proves what I said in my most recent Thoughts from Maharrey Head podcast — the Constitution has become nothing but a prop in America’s political theater.

People drag the Constitution out during campaign speeches and political rallies, and then ignore it when it actually comes to governing. This is true of both Republicans and Democrats.

It bugs me more when conservatives do it because they’re the ones who generally claim to be “constitutionalists.” And they do it a lot, especially when it comes to war.

Nine times out of 10, a person supporting this or that unconstitutional war is a self-proclaimed conservative Republican.

These people have been duped into supporting the big-government, progressive warfare state.

Here’s the question: how did war become a conservative position? It wasn’t always that way. In fact, conservatism used to be decidedly non-interventionist.

James Madison wrote about war. He said of all the enemies of public liberty, “war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded.” And he listed some reasons why.

In the first place, war leads to higher taxes. It also expands the power of government, particularly executive powers. And he noted that war leads to a “degeneracy of manners and of morals.”

None of these outcomes are “conservative.” In fact, war leads to the exact opposite of conservative.

This is why the Constitution put war-making power in the hands of Congress – to make it difficult to go to war. Those restraints have been shredded. Conservatives would do well to fight to get them back — if they really want “limited government.”

Reprinted from the Tenth Amendment Center.

About Michael Maharrey

Michael Maharrey [send him email] is the communications director for the Tenth Amendment Center. He also runs GodArchy.org, a site exploring the intersection of Christianity and politics. Michael is the author of the book, Constitution Owner's Manual: The Real Constitution the Politicians Don't Want You to Know About. You can visit his personal website at MichaelMaharrey.com, like him on Facebook HERE and follow him on Twitter @MMaharrey10th.

Our Books

9 libooksjuly2023sm

Related Articles

Related

Let’s Start Minding Our Own Business

Let’s Start Minding Our Own Business

I look at this country and I see too many veterans unable to reenter society because of their trauma from fighting these endless wars. I look at this country and I see political prisoners like Julian Assange locked up for practicing honest journalism. I look at this...

read more
Yeah, It Was (Mostly) the Fed’s Fault

Yeah, It Was (Mostly) the Fed’s Fault

A not uncommon reaction from central bank defenders in response to criticism is some form of an apology, arguing a lesser of two evils choice. Posing a counterfactual, they present a scenario, say the East Asian Crisis or subsequent Subprime Crisis, which it is then...

read more
Don’t Tread on Homeschoolers

Don’t Tread on Homeschoolers

A 12-year-old Colorado boy became a victim of “woke” education when he was taken out of class and told he could not return unless he removed a Gadsden flag, or “Don’t Tread on Me,” patch from his backpack. The school backed down after a video went viral in which a...

read more
Goldfish in Chief

Goldfish in Chief

Former U.S. President Barack Obama recently put out a tweet with a link to organizations that may be of some help to the people of Libya due to recent floods. NATO was absent from the list. Whoever runs the former president's social media is likely unaware why some...

read more

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This