THE CLASSICAL LIBERAL

As we have seen, standing armies create perverse incentives not only to engage in warfare, but also to permanently divert part of the productive capacity of a nation towards the perpetual preparation for war, leading to the rise and dominance of a military-industrial-complex. Further, the militarism and exceptionalism that arises from these circumstances erode at the foundations of liberty and the expediency of war-time powers become coveted objects sought after by all sorts of policy makers, leading to the militarization of more and more problems. This is what helps create the various “wars” on what are essentially societal problems such as the personal use of narcotics. While a well-regulated militia is by no means enough to really roll back the rampant militarism of the last half century, it is a very strong step in the right direction. A well-regulated militia, as conceived herein, entails the coming together of the body-politic, armed with appropriate weaponry, trained in ...

"A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed".   Few words written in the constitution have caused such controversy and bitter disagreement as the text of the second amendment. The controversy has grown more contentious in light of the growth in firearms related violence which has gripped the country over the past half century, especially when we consider such violence punctuated by barbarous acts of madmen looking to gain infamy and release themselves from their pain through the destruction of the innocent.   Columbine, Aurora, Sandy Hook, these places can no longer be mentioned without the images of lost hope and lost lives burning indelibly within our minds. They speak to us of a humanity cast asunder in the gratification of pure evil within the souls of paranoid, forgotten men. Yet it is not so much the internal constitution of those villainous animals that concer...