Endless Warfare

By Douglas V. Gibbs

Warfare is a dominant feature of human history, and history often labels these conflicts as a battle between good and evil.  Warfare as we have seen in history books, such as in the forms of revolutions, civil wars, and world wars, however, are only a symptom.  Warfare is something we are engaged in perpetually, because the war for our world goes beyond the despotic desires of tyrants.

The Framers of the United States Constitution understood human nature.  They recognized that even among themselves there were those that believed in the supremacy of a central government, and would rather see a ruling elite dictate over the masses, than a system based on representation, the rule of law, checks and balances, and a limited democratic process.

John Adams once said that the two-party system would be the death of this nation.  George Washington was elected without being a member of a political party, though historians will argue he was sympathetic to the policies and agenda of the Federalist Party.  During that time period, it was the Federalist Party that began to emerge as the party of big government, and by the 1820s, the political party had faded into obscurity because liberty-minded Americans rejected their platform.

Americans largely supported the concept of a limited federal government, restrained by the chains of the United States Constitution, and so for a generation Jefferson's Republicans, the Democratic-Republican Party, and ultimately the Democrat Party through the term of Andrew Jackson, dominated politics, and as a result the United States prospered, and expanded in pursuit of the concept of "manifest destiny," from sea to shining sea.

The Whig Party challenged the Democrats, calling for a stronger legislature, as the Democrats incrementally moved towards the concept of a stronger executive.  Then, as the Whigs began to finally make a major impact, the issue of slavery divided that political party, and the Republican Party was born.  Within the Republican Party, however, grew two schools of thought; one that followed the Constitution, and another that called for the abolition of slavery through federal enforcement and federal supremacy, and ultimately changed the country from "the United States are," to "the United States is."

Political definitions leaped around, infecting both political parties, until finally the more progressive attitudes toward governance found their home in the Democrat Party, and what would come to be known as "conservative" policies evolved as the platform of the Republicans.

In the end, however, party labels do not matter.  Both parties desire the opportunity to run "big government."  Governmental institutions, and political parties, don't voluntarily remove their hand from power, but always seek to expand that power no matter the political label they claim to associate with.  The concept of limited government, the ideal that the Founding Fathers placed their lives, fortunes and sacred honor on the line for, has always been a grassroots concept, and something that only the people can, and will, truly ever demand and maintain.

Every issue, no matter what it is, be it a fiscal issue, a social issue, or anything else you can think of, ultimately always comes down to one argument: "Should power over that issue reside in the hands of the people and culture, local government, or a centralized system?"

Tyranny always seeks centralized control.  Political leaders naturally seek an expansion of power.  But professional politicians also understand that such a concept in its basic form is unacceptable to a people that seeks freedom.  So, under the guise of the common good, the politicians package tyranny in innocent looking wrappings, because darkness never reveals itself as darkness, but disguises itself as an Angel of Light.  And once the movement towards bigger government begins, the power players of a centralized system never stop pushing the envelope, always seeking more power, and will not stop their efforts until they have all power over the people, or are stopped by revolution (be it a peaceful, or bloody, one).

We can fight all we want, we can try any possible combination of solutions, but in the end, the war for that power will never end.  Like the cybernetic character in the movie The Terminator, those that seek bigger government and control over the people through policies that are not compatible with liberty will never stop.  Those that support far left totalitarianism will always exist.  They can't be bargained with, or reasoned with. They don't feel pity, or remorse, or fear.  And the hard left ideology absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are under their control, or dead.

When it comes to battling such a relentless enemy, we have to be practical.  The practical reality of what is available to us as tools is that those tools are limited, and maintaining liberty requires eternal vigilance.  In today's America, despite the many flaws in it, the tool we have available to us is currently the Republican Party. I don't praise the GOP, and I am not one that has made any kind of pledge to the GOP, but in the current system we reside in, the GOP is the vehicle available to us to turn things around. And understand, even if we were to right the ship, the enemy of hard left liberal progressive socialist tyranny is an enemy that goes beyond flesh and blood. It never gives up, and it never stops. The best we can do is temporarily set it back, but the battle will never end. The war is endless. The drive for tyranny will always exist in one form or another.  Therefore we must be eternally vigilant, and understand that we are engaged in endless warfare that we must not only fight ourselves, but teach our children to stand strong against as they wage the war against the hard left enemy, as well.

It is our responsibility to resist evil and promote liberty. . . for ourselves, and our Posterity.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary