In the wake of the terrible events in Paris we are all feeling a variety of emotions. We feel sadness and anger and indignation. We feel compassion, and fear. We may feel frustration or a sense of patriotism, or even hatred or a desire for vengeance. Emotions are natural and it is not right or wrong to feel whatever emotion we are feeling. But we must make sure that as we move forward we are ruled by our minds, with our heart as a guide.
The bombs are already falling from French aircraft. This is understandable. But we need to make sure we step back and take a good look at our plans before we embark on a mission. And we have to make sure our actions are guided by the same core values as always. There is a lot of discussion as well as outright spin flying around about what we need to do. We must be able to ignore the spin and know what is right and wrong and how to tell the difference.
Let’s review some of those words we keep throwing around.
The Right of Self Defense
Whether you believe it comes from God or Nature, and regardless of your political affiliation, there is general agreement that there is an inherent, inalienable, natural right to self-defense. If someone threatens you or your family you have a right to defend against them. Nobody has the right to take your life, liberty, or property and you have a right to defend those things.
We do not have the right to initiate the use of force against others. But if others initiate force against us, we have a right to counter that force appropriately to defend ourselves. It is basic to our humanity.
This right of self-defense can be transferred to others. Villagers banded together to protect themselves from outside attack. They took turns keeping watch and came together to build protective walls and to organize forces to meet threats. Nations derive their power to defend from the people they govern, and the right of a nation to defend itself is no different than that of a village to do the same.
The French were attacked. They did not initiate the use of force but they have every right to defend their people. And since France is our ally, we have an obligation to help defend them. They have every right to neutralize the threat to the safety of their people, which means they have a right to neutralize the threat posed by ISIS.
ISIS claims to be a nation-state, and certainly functions as one. They have claimed responsibility for attacking France. France is our ally. We have every reason to join the French in declaring war on ISIS, which has already declared war on us.
Live Within Your Means
An attack on Paris does not enable us to suddenly have more resources with which to fight a war on ISIS. We do not have a green light to start spending like drunken sailors. Any military plan needs to be paid for with either higher taxes or spending reductions or both. We are already spending more than we have and so we cannot use this as an excuse to make our financial situation worse.
The next time I hear about how we can’t afford NOT to spend more than we have I am going to explode. If we want to start a war with ISIS it must be paid for before we go. If it is a great idea then it warrants opening up our wallets right now to pay for it.
All Life Is Sacred
If someone threatens my life I will not feel guilty for killing in self-defense, but I will still mourn for the loss of life. Even if we have to take lives we should never revel in loss of life. And as much as it makes it more difficult, we must always strive to minimize the taking of innocent life.
We truly believe that all lives matter, that all life is precious. Whenever we can avoid loss of life we should do so. Whenever we have no choice we will take lives as needed, reluctantly and without joy or celebration. We are not the initiators of violence. We are reluctant warriors. War is hell and to be avoided at all costs.
We need to have compassion on the innocent people affected by violence they were not part of and did not ask for. Americans are always a very generous and charitable people, and I know this will be no exception. We should help, but we do not have to be forced to put ourselves in unnecessary danger.
Liberty Is Not Optional
As much as we may feel emotions like anger and fear and as much as we may want to act on those emotions, we must keep in mind that liberty is not reserved for our friends and relatives, or for things we approve of. We are the nation that supports Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Speech. We must not, in our passion, curtail those freedoms for people who are not like us.
Our love of Liberty is our badge of honor and what sets us apart from the people who launched the attacks on Paris. They would love to see us abandon our Liberty for a little security. They will not waste a good crisis to try and introduce some good sounding political correctness to silence offensive speech. We cannot give in to that. We must continue to defend freedom for everyone.
There are already calls to unchain the NSA; to enact further curtails on Liberty to help keep us secure. Peter King is salivating at the opportunity to shut down some of these unnecessary rules to keep the NSA out of our lives. Never waste a good crisis, right? Just say NO.
Personal Responsibility
You are ultimately responsible for yourself and your family. We each need to make good, prudent decisions to protect ourselves and our homes from whatever may come next. The government may not be able to take care of you and we each need to take responsibility for our own well-being.
Likewise, we must understand that we cannot fix every problem for every individual on earth. Just as we are ultimately responsible for ourselves we must realize that other people must take responsibility for their lives. There are limits to what we can do to fix problems for other people.
We recognize that there are refugees in dire conditions and we feel compassion. But we also have minds and we realize the clear danger involved. We must find a way to both remain safe and help others. But we cannot ignore that in the end there is only so much we can do and we cannot endanger our own lives and that of our families.
We must have boundaries, and we must clearly state them and then hold to them. There are things we can do and things we cannot. As much as possible we must focus on empowering other people to fix their own problems. We can assist; but nation building and central planning do not work. Change must come from within.
We Cannot Ignore Reality
Reality does not care what our opinion is. We may be of the opinion that if we rain enough hellfire missiles down around ISIS the problem will go away. But that is not the reality. We must pay attention to the difference between what is possible and what is not.
We can join the French in their attacks on ISIS but we cannot guarantee that we will stamp out the ideology and we have no control over what moves in to fill the vacuum. That is the reality. This is neither simple not easy.
We must begin with the end in mind and determine the end game before we start. Our end vision is not likely to be what actually happens, but we have to have one. And then we have to continually check our progress not just against our plan but to make sure we remain true to our core values.
It’s a tall order, but we have no choice.
No comments:
Post a Comment