Five Libertarian Ideas #23 - Libertarian national defense, Part II

See Libertarian national defense Part I

President Obama calls for “peace”

President Obama has said about the rioting and police response in Ferguson, MO: "Now is the time for peace and calm on the streets of Ferguson. Now is the time for an open and transparent process to see that justice is done." Which is exactly why he allows the Pentagon to distribute military arsenals to local police departments like Ferguson PD... -8/15

The Pentagon

From the Pentagon to the police station

I am NOT okay with the Pentagon giving military arsenals to local police departments. I can see the use for a SWAT team but not a SWAT army. The Pentagon should be issuing surplus goods to the National Guards. If there is a genuine military-grade threat at home, the Governor should call up the state militia, NOT militarized police. -8/15

When statist academics command armies

One of the things I like best about Navy SEAL Dick Marcinko's books is that he tells it like it is. There are always politicos in Washington--some idealistic to the point of self-righteous, some totally corrupt--who constantly screw with the military.

Despite their naivety and outright arrogance, none of these pencil-pushing idiots have ever served or knows how to lead troops in battle. Yet they use the military to push their personal agendas and it always gets people killed. -8/17

Private military/security contractors

Citizen militias vs. private military companies

Libertarians are often undecided on whether the ideal military organization is the citizens' militia or the private military company. Both entities can align with libertarian ideas, depending on the morality and objectives of the operators.

The citizens' militia predates the US Army by over 150 years, but the first English colonial warriors were private sector troops, as Plymouth and Jamestown colonies were corporate endeavors. Just as both entities can be effective tools for communal self-defense, both types of entities can throw away morality and become instruments of oppression for states, quasi-states, warlords, and private sector despots. -8/18

Libertarians, anarchists, and voting

For those who believe that the state is violence and that even voting is ultimately participation in such violence, consider this: voting for libertarians, or libertarian ballot measures, is self-defense. -8/14

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Private military contractors photo courtesy of Private Military Contractors Facebook page. Pentagon aerial photo Camila Ferreira and Mario Duran used via CC BY-SA 3.0 license, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.