Five Libertarian Ideas #22 - Libertarian National Defense at Home and Abroad

The Second Amendment and the next generation

Being a rifle shooting instructor has been a privilege. I love being able to teach the next generation about proper gun use, sportsmanship, and self-defense. The police can't be everywhere, nor do we want them everywhere, and criminals will continue to disobey the rule of law and human rights (surprise, surprise!). I'm a firm believer that the best way to stop evil people with guns is to have more good people with guns. -7/23

US Army troops patrol Afghanistan's Highway 1

"Limited war" in Afghanistan

This half-assed policy of undeclared "limited war" is only getting my brothers and sisters killed. We either completely conquer Afghanistan so that it will never be the same, or we leave and give the Afghans the liberty to destroy each other rather than have more of our people killed by "allies." -8/5

Toward a small standing army

You want a small standing army like the one envisioned in the Constitution? It can be done in 3 years.

1) Increase and expand special operations in the regular forces so we can neutralize threats without conventional forces.

2) Increase and expand the state militias (i.e. the National Guard and state defense forces). This gives us Title 10 troops who can be activated to fight constitutionally declared wars, while giving the several states citizen-soldiers immune from federal activation. -8/5

National Guard Special Forces soldiers in counterterrorism training

Groupthink: hating the police

It disturbs me to see so many libertarians expressing hatred for the police. I thought we were the enlightened group who sees people as individuals--free agents--rather than lumping them all together based on race, religion, or occupation. Keep in mind, the vast majority of police officers have neither beaten protestors nor shot people. -8/14

Civilians who think they're military experts

Not gonna lie. When civilian libertarians lecture me about the military, it's like listening to a Keynesian try to "teach" me economics. Just 'cause you read Albert Jay Nock and watched 'Lone Survivor' does NOT give you the right to be a pain-in-the-ass know-it-all intellectual. We have plenty of THOSE in academia. MILITARY ORGANIZATIONS WILL NOT DISAPPEAR IN ANARCHY; THEY WILL MERELY BE PRIVATIZED. (Furthermore, don't assume the PMC or militia in your area will be libertarian...) -8/14

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Images by the Department of Defense and National Guard Bureau and are in the public domain.