
The Instapundit has a new column up at Forbes and, as you’d expect, it sucks.
“War is the health of the state,” wrote Randolph Bourne, horrified by World War I and its excesses. And that phrase has been used by libertarians and opponents of state power ever since, as a reason why war is a bad idea.
Certainly the experience of World War I–and, in America, the dramatic expansion of state government power under Woodrow Wilson, as documented in Jonah Goldberg’s Liberal Fascism–supports that argument. But subsequent history makes me wonder if war is really as healthy for the state as some other things that get less attention.
When you have to cite The Pantload in the second paragraph, you’re in trouble.
But when the next national crisis struck–the Depression, under FDR–the U.S. got a massive expansion of government that, unlike Wilson’s, has remained with us to the present day. FDR’s policies may have extended the Depression, but what is clear is that when the Depression was over, the New Deal remained. There was no return to normalcy afterward.
Fuck me running – it’s that Amity Shlaes FDR-extended-teh-Depression shit again. Can’t the wingnuts just admit it’s been debunked debunked debunked?
More fucktardery after the jump.
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