In the modern world, it s difficult to imagine a nation without a professional, standing military force. But throughout history, such a force has been considered at odds with the liberty of the people. This issue was far from settled when the United States was created, and the debate between our founding fathers is embedded in some of our nation s core documents, like the Federalist Papers.
00:01:00.300While many consider it an absolute necessity today,
00:01:03.800the Standing Army has been recognized by many thinkers as the natural precursor to an empire,
00:01:09.860a force that compels the host nation to constantly expand.
00:01:13.300As conservatives slowly begin to question the forever wars which our ruling elite have used to waste the blood and treasure of this nation,
00:01:23.760it's worth stopping to evaluate the role that the maintenance of a large professional fighting force
00:01:30.100has played in compelling our leaders to seek constant conflict.
00:01:34.140Before we tackle this issue, it must be said that the reflexive conservative support of American soldiers is the correct instinct.
00:01:44.600Volunteering to put oneself in harm's way to protect the people of your nation is a noble act.
00:01:50.280The American military has become an almost hereditary warrior caste, drawing heavily from red state populations to man its most combat effective units.
00:02:01.420It's entirely proper for conservatives to venerate the honorable service of their brothers, neighbors, and children.
00:02:09.880One of the main reasons U.S. armed services are facing a recruiting crisis is the way that they've demonized and purged conservative soldiers which traditionally filled their ranks.
00:02:21.840So as we look at the virtues or dangers of a standing military, let's remember that we're not questioning the honor of those who so diligently served this nation.
00:02:34.120Nigel Machiavelli is best known for his work, The Prince, but most people don't realize that the political theorist was not a monarchist,
00:02:42.660but was instead a staunch supporter of the republican form of government.
00:02:46.780For Machiavelli, the nature of a state's military defense was the most important factor in its ability to secure liberty, and he wrote about the subject at length.
00:02:58.040Renaissance Italy was plagued by constant warfare between competing city-states, and the regular use of mercenaries created serious problems for Florence, Machiavelli's home.
00:03:09.180Repeated betrayals by troops that had no personal ties to the city-state that they served led Machiavelli to conclude that no matter how rich a nation became,
00:03:20.320it must have a fighting force that was loyal to the people they protected.
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00:03:39.600While Machiavelli understood the critical need for armed forces that were personally connected to the state,
00:03:46.620he warned against the dangers of keeping a professional army in times of peace in his book, Art of War.
00:03:54.420The political theorists believe that the ruling class must always fear professional soldiers because those military men have no other means of making money.
00:04:02.660Large standing armies are extremely expensive, and if they're not constantly deployed abroad to gather spoils or to secure trade, the cost of those forces adds up very quickly.
00:04:13.680If a state doesn't keep its professional troops deployed abroad and has no consistent way to afford paying them,
00:04:20.540then idle armed men with no other form of employment will quickly become a threat to the ruling class.
00:04:26.420War can also be an excellent way for the ruling class to make money by funneling tax dollars extracted from the populace through defense contractors
00:04:35.840who are often owned by or kicking money back to politicians.
00:04:41.440This means that those in charge of a country with a large professional fighting force always have an incentive to find a new war
00:04:49.680which makes them money and keeps the bulk of the military occupied in foreign lands.
00:04:55.880Empire becomes the natural solution to many problems imposed on a ruling class by a standing army.
00:05:04.040As an alternative, Machiavelli encourages republics to adopt the citizen militia as the solution to the problem of standing armies.
00:05:12.780By making every capable citizen a soldier, the republic ensures that its military will be personally loyal to the state,
00:05:22.100but it also avoids the temptation of constant deployment and conquest.
00:05:27.860Militia members are drilled as soldiers, but they maintain civilian occupations that allow them to feed their families and pay their mortgages.
00:05:37.100When a threat to the nation arises, the militia members bravely defend their homeland,
00:05:42.140but when the danger has passed, they return to their normal lives.
00:05:46.580There's no need to constantly find money to pay the troops,
00:05:50.120no reason to regularly keep the forces deployed,
00:05:53.200and no incentive for a lucrative defense industry to grow up around your military.
00:05:58.840Machiavelli noted that when ancient Rome was a republic,