WEBVTT NOTE A Century of War 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.840 Very many, if not most, historians seem to have reached the consensus that the description 2 00:00:08.840 --> 00:00:13.920 of the twentieth century is best stated as the war and welfare century. 3 00:00:13.920 --> 00:00:16.960 The century is the bloodiest in all of history. 4 00:00:16.960 --> 00:00:23.640 Over 170 million people were killed as a direct result of the wars, with 10 million being 5 00:00:23.640 --> 00:00:28.960 killed in World War I, 50 million killed in World War II. 6 00:00:28.960 --> 00:00:34.360 And it is significant that in regard to the 50 million killed in World War II that 70% 7 00:00:34.360 --> 00:00:40.860 were civilians. This was mainly the result of the bombing of cities by Great Britain 8 00:00:40.860 --> 00:00:49.000 and America. This number of deaths does not include the estimated 6 to 12 million killed 9 00:00:49.000 --> 00:00:56.080 by Stalin before World War II and the several millions killed after the war by Stalin when 10 00:00:56.080 --> 00:01:01.080 When Roosevelt and Churchill delivered to him one-third of Europe in the settlement 11 00:01:01.080 --> 00:01:07.920 conferences, George Crocker's excellent book, Roosevelt's Road to Russia, goes through each 12 00:01:07.920 --> 00:01:15.040 of these settlement conferences, such as Tehran and Yalta and the others, and shows how Roosevelt 13 00:01:15.040 --> 00:01:21.160 and Churchill enhanced Communism in Russia and in China through deliberate concessions 14 00:01:21.160 --> 00:01:27.440 which strengthened Communism drastically while Nazism was being extinguished in Germany. 15 00:01:27.440 --> 00:01:34.940 It is inconceivable to me that America could join with Stalin as an ally and promote World 16 00:01:34.940 --> 00:01:44.320 War II as the good war against totalitarianism. The war and American aid made Soviet Russia 17 00:01:44.320 --> 00:01:50.920 into a super military power which threatened America and the world for the next 45 years, 18 00:01:50.920 --> 00:01:56.520 delivered China into communism and made it a threat during the same period of time. 19 00:01:56.520 --> 00:02:00.760 The horror of the twentieth century could hardly have been predicted at the beginning 20 00:02:00.760 --> 00:02:07.120 of the nineteenth century, which saw the eighteenth century end with the creation of the first 21 00:02:07.120 --> 00:02:11.800 classical liberal government in the world, the United States of America. 22 00:02:11.800 --> 00:02:16.640 It was a government founded upon the blueprint and a written constitution which allowed very 23 00:02:16.640 --> 00:02:19.280 few powers into a central government. 24 00:02:19.280 --> 00:02:24.580 It protected individual liberties from even the vote of the majority. 25 00:02:24.580 --> 00:02:29.900 It provided for the ownership of private property, free speech, freedom of religion, and basically 26 00:02:29.900 --> 00:02:34.060 a free market economy with no direct taxes. 27 00:02:34.060 --> 00:02:40.000 Both political factions united behind the first administration of President Washington 28 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:46.880 to proclaim a foreign policy based upon non-interventionism and neutrality in the affairs of other nations, 29 00:02:46.880 --> 00:02:52.880 which remained a dominant political idea of America for over 100 years. 30 00:02:52.880 --> 00:02:58.800 These ideas of classical liberalism began to spread into the old world of Europe and 31 00:02:58.800 --> 00:03:04.120 erupted, however, into a different type of revolution in France, although in the name 32 00:03:04.120 --> 00:03:06.080 also of liberty. 33 00:03:06.080 --> 00:03:11.700 The new ideal, however, adopted in the French Revolution was that of equality, and it attempted 34 00:03:11.700 --> 00:03:14.800 to abolish all monarchy throughout Europe. 35 00:03:14.800 --> 00:03:21.080 The ideas of classical liberalism were twisted and distorted in this process, but nevertheless 36 00:03:21.080 --> 00:03:26.960 were spread in a distorted form by force throughout Europe, thereby giving it a bad name in many 37 00:03:26.960 --> 00:03:34.040 countries, especially in Germany. The 19th century, however, remained in practice, largely 38 00:03:34.040 --> 00:03:40.340 a century of individualism, material progress and relative peace, which allowed great progress 39 00:03:40.340 --> 00:03:47.940 and Science and Technology and Industry. However, the intellectual ferment during the middle 40 00:03:47.940 --> 00:03:54.380 of the nineteenth century and thereafter was decidedly towards collectivism. In about 1850, 41 00:03:54.380 --> 00:04:00.740 the great classical liberal John Stuart Mill began to abandon the ideas of classical liberalism 42 00:04:00.740 --> 00:04:07.340 and to adopt socialism as did many, many, even most other intellectuals. After the brief 43 00:04:07.340 --> 00:04:15.160 The Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, Bismarck established the first welfare state in Germany. 44 00:04:15.160 --> 00:04:19.740 From this point up to the First World War, most German intellectuals began to glorify 45 00:04:19.740 --> 00:04:27.700 the state and collectivist ideas. They ignored one lone voice in Germany, a lyric poet by 46 00:04:27.700 --> 00:04:36.340 the name of Holderlin, who died in 1843. He made a classic statement, which was, quote, 47 00:04:36.340 --> 00:04:43.340 What has made the state a hell on earth has been that man has tried to make it his heaven. 48 00:04:43.340 --> 00:04:48.340 Hegel and Fichte come to mind in regard to that statement. 49 00:04:48.340 --> 00:04:55.340 Finally, the greatest tragedy of Western civilization erupted with World War I in 1914. 50 00:04:55.340 --> 00:05:01.340 It may be the most senseless, unnecessary, and avoidable disasters in human history. 51 00:05:01.340 --> 00:05:07.420 Classical liberalism was thereby murdered in that war and virtually disappeared and was replaced by 52 00:05:07.420 --> 00:05:14.300 collectivism which reigned both intellectually and in practice throughout the remainder of the 20th 53 00:05:14.300 --> 00:05:20.300 century. The ideas of socialism began to take over the governments of the world following World War I. 54 00:05:21.180 --> 00:05:27.740 Socialism, however, was not initially a mass movement of the people but was instead a movement 55 00:05:27.740 --> 00:05:33.500 created by intellectuals who became important parts of the government ruled by those collectivist 56 00:05:33.500 --> 00:05:39.740 politicians. While I could quote from numerous political and intellectual leaders throughout 57 00:05:39.740 --> 00:05:46.380 the war and welfare century, I've chosen one who summed up the dominant political thoughts of the 58 00:05:46.380 --> 00:05:53.180 entire 20th century in one short paragraph. He was the founder of fascism. He came to power 59 00:05:53.180 --> 00:05:58.860 In a law in 1922 in Italy, Mussolini stated, quote, 60 00:05:58.860 --> 00:06:05.300 Fascism believes neither in the possibility nor the utility of peace. 61 00:06:05.300 --> 00:06:14.020 War alone brings up to its highest tension all human energy and puts the staff of nobility 62 00:06:14.020 --> 00:06:17.260 upon the peoples who have the courage to meet it. 63 00:06:17.260 --> 00:06:22.300 It may be expected that this will be the century of authority, 64 00:06:22.300 --> 00:06:30.140 A century of the left, a century of fascism. For the 19th century was a century of individualism. 65 00:06:30.140 --> 00:06:39.660 And he puts a parenthesis here and says, liberalism, I always mean, by liberalism, I mean individualism. 66 00:06:39.660 --> 00:06:47.540 Parenthesis closed. He says, it may be expected that this will be the century of collectivism 67 00:06:47.540 --> 00:06:55.780 and Hence the Century of the State. For fascism, the growth of empire, that is to say the expansion 68 00:06:55.780 --> 00:07:04.880 of the state, and its opposite, is a sign of decay and death." This statement bears 69 00:07:04.880 --> 00:07:09.960 closer scrutiny because it dramatically states some of the dominant and guiding principles 70 00:07:09.960 --> 00:07:16.900 of the entire twentieth century. First, it states that peace is not the goal and is not 71 00:07:16.900 --> 00:07:22.180 War is not to even be desired by the governments of collectivism. Secondly, it states that 72 00:07:22.180 --> 00:07:28.460 war is the primary goal and is to be desired for several reasons. One is that not only 73 00:07:28.460 --> 00:07:36.580 is it a noble activity, but it reveals a true courage of man. It unleashes creative energy 74 00:07:36.580 --> 00:07:46.620 and it causes progress. Moreover, war is the prime mover to enhance and glorify the state. 75 00:07:46.620 --> 00:07:52.420 War is the principal method by which collectivists have achieved their goal of control by the 76 00:07:52.420 --> 00:07:59.060 few over the many. In other words, they seek to create war for the purpose of implementing 77 00:07:59.060 --> 00:08:00.060 their ideas. 78 00:08:00.060 --> 00:08:05.580 Number three, he states that individualism, which was a philosophy of the 19th century, 79 00:08:05.580 --> 00:08:12.220 is to be abolished, and specifically collectivism is to rule the 20th century. Finally, Mussolini's 80 00:08:12.220 --> 00:08:19.740 Today's statement is that fascism is recognized as a variation of other forms of collectivism, 81 00:08:19.740 --> 00:08:25.500 all being part of the left as opposed to the right, which is individualism. It was not 82 00:08:25.500 --> 00:08:30.580 until the red decade of the thirties and the appearance of Hitler that leftist intellectuals 83 00:08:30.580 --> 00:08:37.460 and the media began to switch fascism from the left to the right and put it on the political 84 00:08:37.460 --> 00:08:44.580 Social Spectrum as an opposite, in opposition to what the, quote, good forms of collectivism 85 00:08:44.580 --> 00:08:48.260 were, which they said were socialism and communism. 86 00:08:48.260 --> 00:08:53.440 They were merely rival gangs in the same neighborhood. 87 00:08:53.440 --> 00:09:00.700 But after Hitler arose in Germany, socialists opposed fascism as extremism on the right. 88 00:09:00.700 --> 00:09:06.940 The founder of fascism clearly realized that all of these collectivist ideas, socialism, 89 00:09:06.940 --> 00:09:14.300 and Communism belonged on the political left and were opposed to individualism on the right. 90 00:09:14.300 --> 00:09:20.340 So fascism is not an extreme form of individualism and is, without a doubt, a part of the left 91 00:09:20.340 --> 00:09:26.260 or collectivism. The ideals upon which America was founded were the exact opposite of those 92 00:09:26.260 --> 00:09:30.260 expressed by Mussolini and other collectivists on the left. 93 00:09:30.260 --> 00:09:36.920 So why was America in the 20th century not a bulwark for freedom to oppose all of these 94 00:09:36.920 --> 00:09:45.000 Why didn't the American ideas of our founding fathers dominate the 20th century? Why didn't 95 00:09:45.000 --> 00:09:52.400 the ideas combat the left and make this the century of American freedom, instead of making 96 00:09:52.400 --> 00:09:58.860 it the war and welfare century? It was certainly not because America was conquered by some 97 00:09:58.860 --> 00:10:05.120 foreign enemy by the force of arms. We must begin to look for the reasons of how and why 98 00:10:05.120 --> 00:10:12.120 America abandoned its principles of its founders and allowed this tragedy to occur. We must 99 00:10:12.120 --> 00:10:18.120 determine why America became influenced by leftist thoughts and the ideas of empire, 100 00:10:18.120 --> 00:10:23.840 the ideas of glorification of the state. How did America itself become an empire and an 101 00:10:23.840 --> 00:10:30.980 interventionist in World War I and World War II and help create the war and welfare century? 102 00:10:30.980 --> 00:10:36.140 We can begin by examining a quote from one of the main leaders of America in the 19th 103 00:10:36.140 --> 00:10:42.380 century, and I think the answer will become apparent. This statement was made by a prominent 104 00:10:42.380 --> 00:10:50.000 American politician in 1838. Quote, At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? 105 00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:55.280 By what means shall we fortify against it? Shall we expect some transatlantic military 106 00:10:55.280 --> 00:11:02.240 Every giant to step the ocean and crush us at a blow? Never. All the armies of Europe, 107 00:11:02.240 --> 00:11:08.600 Asia and Africa combined with all the treasure of the earth could not by force take a drink 108 00:11:08.600 --> 00:11:15.280 from the Ohio or make a track on the Blue Ridge in the trial of a thousand years. Abraham 109 00:11:15.280 --> 00:11:20.320 Lincoln is the author of those words and he concluded his statement with the following 110 00:11:20.320 --> 00:11:29.140 If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of 111 00:11:29.140 --> 00:11:36.400 free men, we must live through all time or die by suicide. 112 00:11:36.400 --> 00:11:41.360 Lincoln himself became the principal instigator of America's suicide. It was not a foreign 113 00:11:41.360 --> 00:11:47.560 foe that conquered us, but it was a war that the American government won, which ended the 114 00:11:47.560 --> 00:11:50.120 and the Dreams of the American Founders. 115 00:11:50.120 --> 00:11:55.280 How the leftist intellectuals have never revealed to the American people the real cause or the 116 00:11:55.280 --> 00:12:01.080 real effect of the American Civil War, and instead have proclaimed it as a noble war 117 00:12:01.080 --> 00:12:07.760 to free slaves and therefore worth whatever cost had to be paid. 118 00:12:07.760 --> 00:12:13.360 In fact, it was a war to repudiate the ideas of a limited central government, and it moved 119 00:12:13.360 --> 00:12:19.600 America towards a domestic empire which led inevitably to a foreign empire several decades 120 00:12:19.600 --> 00:12:24.400 later. We see many photographs of Lincoln toward the end of the war which seemed to 121 00:12:24.400 --> 00:12:31.320 show the strain from the war. However, I think the strain was due mainly to the fact that 122 00:12:31.320 --> 00:12:36.640 by the end of the war he understood that it had been an unnecessary war and that he had 123 00:12:36.640 --> 00:12:42.440 acted to secure the economic domination of the north over the south. At the end of the 124 00:12:42.440 --> 00:12:48.440 After the war, President Lincoln stated, quote, As a result of the war, corporations have 125 00:12:48.440 --> 00:12:56.000 been enthroned, and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power 126 00:12:56.000 --> 00:13:01.120 of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the 127 00:13:01.120 --> 00:13:08.880 people until wealth is aggregated into the hands of the few and the republic is destroyed. 128 00:13:08.880 --> 00:13:15.280 I feel at this moment more anxiety for the safety of my country than ever before, even 129 00:13:15.280 --> 00:13:18.280 in the midst of the war. 130 00:13:18.280 --> 00:13:23.400 Other key individuals recognized the real effect of the American Civil War. 131 00:13:23.400 --> 00:13:27.600 One of these was the great historian of liberty, Lord Acton, who wrote to another prominent 132 00:13:27.600 --> 00:13:31.220 American, Robert E. Lee, immediately after the war. 133 00:13:31.220 --> 00:13:38.360 And Lord Acton stated, quote, I saw in state rights the only availing check upon the absolutism 134 00:13:38.360 --> 00:13:44.560 of the Sovereign Will, and secession filled me with hope, not as to the destruction, but 135 00:13:44.560 --> 00:13:49.040 as to the redemption of democracy. Therefore I deem that you are fighting the battles of 136 00:13:49.040 --> 00:13:56.040 our liberty, our progress, and our civilization, and I mourn for the state which was lost at 137 00:13:56.040 --> 00:14:03.560 Richmond more deeply than I rejoice over that which was saved at Waterloo. General Lee replied 138 00:14:03.560 --> 00:14:10.480 in a letter dated December 15, 1866 with a careful analysis of the results of the Civil 139 00:14:10.480 --> 00:14:16.120 War. His letter contained these words, quote, I can only say that I have considered the 140 00:14:16.120 --> 00:14:21.160 preservation of the constitutional power of the general government to be the foundation 141 00:14:21.160 --> 00:14:26.720 of our peace and safety at home and abroad. I yet believe that the maintenance of the 142 00:14:26.720 --> 00:14:32.180 rights and authority reserved to the states and to the people, not only essential to the 143 00:14:32.180 --> 00:14:37.980 The adjustment and the balance of the general system, but the safeguard to the continuance 144 00:14:37.980 --> 00:14:42.880 of a free government, I consider it as the chief source of stability of our political 145 00:14:42.880 --> 00:14:50.960 system, whereas the consolidation of the states into one vast republic is sure to be aggressive 146 00:14:50.960 --> 00:14:59.460 abroad and despotic at home, and it will be the certain precursor of the ruin that has 147 00:14:59.460 --> 00:15:04.900 has overwhelmed all those governments which have preceded it." 148 00:15:04.900 --> 00:15:10.060 Lee clearly saw the growth of empire at home and the loss of freedom to Americans and the 149 00:15:10.060 --> 00:15:16.020 destruction of the original ideas of our founders. He also saw that the domestic empire would 150 00:15:16.020 --> 00:15:23.500 lead to an empire abroad. Consolidation of power into the central government is the basic 151 00:15:23.500 --> 00:15:32.500 It is the basic idea of the Constitution attempted to avoid. After the creation of the domestic 152 00:15:32.500 --> 00:15:38.460 American empire and the Civil War, and then after the next three decades, and at the beginning 153 00:15:38.460 --> 00:15:46.100 of the 20th century, America repudiated its 100-year-old foreign policy and started the 154 00:15:46.100 --> 00:15:53.620 The Spanish-American War, allegedly to free Cuba from Spanish tyranny. But as we now know, 155 00:15:53.620 --> 00:15:58.480 the original and ultimate purpose was to take the Philippine Islands away from Spain in 156 00:15:58.480 --> 00:16:03.180 order to provide coaling stations for trade with China, which was considered by many American 157 00:16:03.180 --> 00:16:08.240 economic interests to be essential to America's progress. McKinley ordered the ships sent 158 00:16:08.240 --> 00:16:13.020 to the Philippines at the same time he sent the battleship Maine to Cuba and instructed 159 00:16:13.020 --> 00:16:18.740 the American Navy to support the Philippine rebels against their Spanish rulers. McKinley 160 00:16:18.740 --> 00:16:23.840 asked Congress to declare war because he said the Spanish sank the battleship Maine. But 161 00:16:23.840 --> 00:16:28.480 we know today that the explosion occurred from within the ship, just as the Spanish 162 00:16:28.480 --> 00:16:33.740 had said, and therefore could not have been done by Spain. In the Philippines, the native 163 00:16:33.740 --> 00:16:38.620 rebels were successful in throwing off their Spanish rulers and were aided in their effort 164 00:16:38.620 --> 00:16:43.260 by the American Navy. As soon as they were successful, McKinley ordered the American 165 00:16:43.260 --> 00:16:48.620 guns turned upon the rebels and murdered them by the thousands and thousands and snatched 166 00:16:48.620 --> 00:16:53.940 that island away from them and made it an American possession, which McKinley ruled 167 00:16:53.940 --> 00:16:59.380 as a military dictator without any authority from Congress. Next, without any authority 168 00:16:59.380 --> 00:17:05.220 from Congress, he sent 5,000 Marines into China to help put down the Boxer Rebellion, 169 00:17:05.220 --> 00:17:14.700 America joined with other European nations in seeking the spoils of China and thereby 170 00:17:14.700 --> 00:17:22.060 sacrificed America's integrity and any right to be called a leader for freedom in the world. 171 00:17:22.060 --> 00:17:26.580 Next came the greatest tragedy of the twentieth century, which was America's late entry into 172 00:17:26.580 --> 00:17:32.460 World War I. America's entry drastically changed the balance of power of the original contenders 173 00:17:32.460 --> 00:17:37.780 in that war and resulted in the horrible treaty of Versailles, which paved the road to World 174 00:17:37.780 --> 00:17:43.220 War II. America's entry into World War I was a natural result of the so-called progressive 175 00:17:43.220 --> 00:17:50.460 movement, which worshiped democracy per se. It was this so-called progressive movement 176 00:17:50.460 --> 00:17:56.420 which in one year, 1913, brought on monumental changes in the name of attacking the rich 177 00:17:56.420 --> 00:18:01.700 for the benefit of the poor. First, the Federal Reserve system was created allegedly to control 178 00:18:01.700 --> 00:18:07.900 All the rich banks, but instead concentrated power into the hands of an elite few unelected 179 00:18:07.900 --> 00:18:08.900 manipulators. 180 00:18:08.900 --> 00:18:15.420 Second, the 16th Amendment allowed the income tax, and it was alleged that the amendment 181 00:18:15.420 --> 00:18:17.220 would only attack the rich. 182 00:18:17.220 --> 00:18:23.220 However, in the First World War, the tax was raised and expanded and has become the most 183 00:18:23.220 --> 00:18:27.060 oppressive feature of Americans in the 20th century. 184 00:18:27.060 --> 00:18:31.380 And today causes the middle class, Americans, to work approximately five to six months a 185 00:18:31.380 --> 00:18:35.860 year before they earn one penny for themselves. 186 00:18:35.860 --> 00:18:42.820 The third change was the Seventeenth Amendment, which allegedly was to give power to the people 187 00:18:42.820 --> 00:18:47.880 by letting them elect U.S. senators rather than state legislatures. 188 00:18:47.880 --> 00:18:53.300 The Founding Fathers had devised this system of state legislatures, electing U.S. senators, 189 00:18:53.300 --> 00:18:59.100 in order to protect the states and give the states the power to restrain the federal government. 190 00:18:59.100 --> 00:19:06.260 Progressive movement also promoted the personification of Isabel Paterson's humanitarian with a guillotine 191 00:19:06.260 --> 00:19:13.660 by electing President Woodrow Wilson, a naive and idealistic egomaniac who took America 192 00:19:13.660 --> 00:19:19.620 into World War I so that he could take a part in creating the League of Nations and help 193 00:19:19.620 --> 00:19:23.960 help design the new order, new structure of the world. 194 00:19:23.960 --> 00:19:29.260 Wilson also allowed the House of J.P. Morgan to become the exclusive agent for British 195 00:19:29.260 --> 00:19:35.300 purchases of war materials in America. Later, he further allowed Morgan to make loans and 196 00:19:35.300 --> 00:19:42.560 extend credit to the Allies. And eventually, Wilson caused the U.S. government to assume 197 00:19:42.560 --> 00:19:47.780 all of the Morgan debt, relieving Morgan of the debt, and then issued Liberty bonds so 198 00:19:47.780 --> 00:20:01.780 The inability of Great Britain and France to repay the Morgan loans, which were now to the United States, also played a major factor in Wilson's decision to enter that war. 199 00:20:01.780 --> 00:20:11.780 It was also a major factor in causing the Treaty of Versailles to impose such harsh terms on Germany to repay Great Britain and France for war damages. 200 00:20:11.780 --> 00:20:18.580 As war fever spread and the war drums beat, few people paid attention to such editorials 201 00:20:18.580 --> 00:20:24.100 as appeared in the commercial and financial journal which stated, quote, It is needless 202 00:20:24.100 --> 00:20:30.180 to say that we shall support the government, but may we not ask one to another before the 203 00:20:30.180 --> 00:20:36.980 fateful final word is spoken? Are we not by this act transforming the glorious republic 204 00:20:36.980 --> 00:20:42.980 that was, and to a powerful Republic that is to be. Must we not admit that we are bringing 205 00:20:42.980 --> 00:20:51.620 into existence a new Republic that is unlike the old?" Wilson, like President Polk and 206 00:20:51.620 --> 00:20:56.700 Wilson before him, made it appear that the alleged enemy started the war by firing the 207 00:20:56.700 --> 00:21:03.180 first shot. German Embassy had warned Secretary of State Brian that the British ship the Lusitania 208 00:21:03.180 --> 00:21:10.140 and was carrying illegal weapons and was therefore a proper target for submarines to sink. 209 00:21:10.140 --> 00:21:14.740 Secretary Bryan tried to get Wilson to warn American citizens not to sail on the ship, 210 00:21:14.740 --> 00:21:19.320 but Wilson refused to do so because he saw that this was an opportunity where a loss 211 00:21:19.320 --> 00:21:24.940 of American lives would present him with an apparent reason for entering the war. 212 00:21:24.940 --> 00:21:29.540 After Wilson failed to give this warning, Bryan resigned as Secretary of State and over 213 00:21:29.540 --> 00:21:34.540 100 Americans were killed when the German submarine sank the Lusitania. 214 00:21:34.540 --> 00:21:39.100 After World War I ended, and much like the regret expressed by Lincoln at the end of 215 00:21:39.100 --> 00:21:44.820 the Civil War, President Wilson looked back to the harm that he had brought on America 216 00:21:44.820 --> 00:21:51.540 and saw part of the true nature of World War I. In an address in St. Louis, Missouri, September 217 00:21:51.540 --> 00:22:21.540 In 1919, President Wilson stated, quote, Why, my fellow citizens, is there any man here or any woman or is there any child who does not know that the seed of war in the modern world is industrial and commercial rivalry? This war, in its inception, was a commercial and an industrial war. It was not a political war, end quote. It is sad to contemplate the loss of liberty caused by 218 00:22:21.540 --> 00:22:27.420 By the victorious wars we have fought, when you look back and see that almost all of them 219 00:22:27.420 --> 00:22:33.100 were unnecessary to defend American liberty and were largely economically instigated, 220 00:22:33.100 --> 00:22:38.140 in so many instances the President provoked the other side into firing the first shot 221 00:22:38.140 --> 00:22:44.340 so as to make it look like the war was started by America's enemy. Not only did Pope Lincoln, 222 00:22:44.340 --> 00:22:49.700 McKinley and Wilson do it, but later Roosevelt would do it in regard to Pearl Harbor and 223 00:22:49.700 --> 00:22:54.740 Johnson would do it in regard to the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution for Vietnam. It is not 224 00:22:54.740 --> 00:23:00.380 truly a study of history to speculate on what might have happened if America had not entered 225 00:23:00.380 --> 00:23:07.940 World War I. But I think that these are some very reasonable, even probable, consequences 226 00:23:07.940 --> 00:23:13.220 if America had not entered. First, almost certainly there would not have been a successful 227 00:23:13.220 --> 00:23:17.900 Bolshevik revolution in Russia and Communism would not have overthrown the government and 228 00:23:17.900 --> 00:23:22.420 and giving communism its birth in the huge nation of Russia which allowed communism to 229 00:23:22.420 --> 00:23:24.060 spread worldwide. 230 00:23:24.060 --> 00:23:30.980 Secondly, a negotiated treaty between an undefeated Germany and an undefeated France and Great 231 00:23:30.980 --> 00:23:35.660 Britain, but all of them severely wounded, would have prevented the debacle of the Treaty 232 00:23:35.660 --> 00:23:42.900 of Versailles, which was the greatest tragedy of World War I. A treaty instead by those 233 00:23:42.900 --> 00:23:48.580 before Defeat would have been negotiated with co-equal partners at the table, similar to 234 00:23:48.580 --> 00:23:55.020 the way the Congress of Vienna settled the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 and 1816, with France 235 00:23:55.020 --> 00:23:59.860 actually sitting at the table represented by Taleran. And a sincere effort was made 236 00:23:59.860 --> 00:24:05.740 to promote peace by that treaty rather than cause war in the future. Treaty of Versailles 237 00:24:05.740 --> 00:24:11.220 excluded Germany and Russia and declared Germany solely guilty for causing the war and saddled 238 00:24:11.220 --> 00:24:17.260 without her was tremendous payments for war debts and took away much of Germany's territory. 239 00:24:17.260 --> 00:24:21.680 The Treaty of Versailles paved the way for Hitler, whose support came from the German 240 00:24:21.680 --> 00:24:28.100 people who wanted to throw off this tremendously and obviously unfair Treaty of Versailles. 241 00:24:28.100 --> 00:24:32.280 Without the rise of communism in Russia and Nazism in Germany, I do not believe that World 242 00:24:32.280 --> 00:24:34.680 War II would have occurred. 243 00:24:34.680 --> 00:24:40.820 Because of our special royal guest from Austria, I want to add one footnote here about the 244 00:24:40.820 --> 00:24:45.620 Settlement of World War I as it related to the Habsburg Monarchy. In an excellent book 245 00:24:45.620 --> 00:24:52.620 entitled Leftism Revisited by Eric Kuhnelt-Leedon, he reveals that President Wilson probably 246 00:24:52.620 --> 00:24:58.620 was unaware of the wisdom of Disraeli's words, quote, The maintenance of the Austrian Empire 247 00:24:58.620 --> 00:25:04.100 is necessary to the independence and, if necessary, to the civilization and even the liberties 248 00:25:04.100 --> 00:25:09.940 of Europe. The book points out that President Wilson had as one of his main foreign policy 249 00:25:09.940 --> 00:25:13.780 The American Representative is a confirmed socialist preacher by the name of Rev. George 250 00:25:13.780 --> 00:25:20.300 Davis Herron. Hapsburg Monarchy petitioned Wilson to negotiate a separate peace treaty 251 00:25:20.300 --> 00:25:26.180 in February of 1918, long before the war ended, and sent as its representative Prof. Heinrich 252 00:25:26.180 --> 00:25:31.420 Lemauche to meet with American Representative Rev. Herron. They spent two days together, 253 00:25:31.420 --> 00:25:37.460 and Prof. Lemauche revealed a plan to create a federated political body in which was entirely 254 00:25:37.460 --> 00:25:43.660 in keeping with one of Wilson's 14 points, which would allow individual nations and ethnic 255 00:25:43.660 --> 00:25:49.120 groups to be accorded the freest opportunity of autonomous development. 256 00:25:49.120 --> 00:25:54.920 The book then states, quote, During the night, Heron began to wrestle with his temptation 257 00:25:54.920 --> 00:26:00.000 as Jacob wrestled with God near Yorba. By morning he knew he had gained complete victory 258 00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:05.960 over himself. LaMarche had been nothing but an evil tempter. No, the Habsburg monarchy 259 00:26:05.960 --> 00:26:11.980 must go because the Habsburgs as such were obstacles to progress, democracy and liberty. 260 00:26:11.980 --> 00:26:15.480 Had they remained in power, the war would have been fought in vain. 261 00:26:15.480 --> 00:26:20.800 The book continues with an interesting event relating to Reverend Heron after his travels 262 00:26:20.800 --> 00:26:27.860 in Europe. And he wrote a letter to the socialist Norman Thomas in 1920 and stated, quote, 263 00:26:27.860 --> 00:26:34.860 The Bolsheviks were bad, but the future civilization of Europe is coming out of Russia and it was 264 00:26:35.960 --> 00:26:41.640 It will at least be an approach to the Kingdom of Heaven when it comes, end quote. 265 00:26:41.640 --> 00:26:47.880 The leftist bias and bent of the Wilson administration and its representative becomes crystal clear. 266 00:26:47.880 --> 00:26:53.400 There are many important lessons that the 20th century, the war on welfare century could 267 00:26:53.400 --> 00:26:54.400 teach us. 268 00:26:54.400 --> 00:26:57.320 I want to talk about two of those. 269 00:26:57.320 --> 00:27:02.840 One of those is summed up by Bruce Porter in his excellent book entitled War and the 270 00:27:02.840 --> 00:27:04.800 Rise of the State. 271 00:27:04.800 --> 00:27:11.480 So, throughout the history of the United States, war has been the primary impetus behind the 272 00:27:11.480 --> 00:27:18.000 growth and development of the Central State, just as Mussolini said that it would be. 273 00:27:18.000 --> 00:27:23.920 Continuing, it war has been the lever by which presidents and other national officials have 274 00:27:23.920 --> 00:27:29.440 bolstered the power of the state in the face of tenacious popular resistance. It has been 275 00:27:29.440 --> 00:27:37.240 and the Wellspring of American Nationalism and a Spur to Political and Social Change. 276 00:27:37.240 --> 00:27:41.540 The same lesson is contained in a warning issued by the great champion of liberty and student 277 00:27:41.540 --> 00:27:46.760 of American democracy, Alexis de Tocqueville, who warned America in the early part of the 278 00:27:46.760 --> 00:27:53.800 nineteenth century that, all those who seek to destroy the liberties of a democratic nation 279 00:27:53.800 --> 00:28:01.440 ought to know that war is the surest and the shortest means to accomplish it." 280 00:28:01.440 --> 00:28:05.480 He was talking about victorious wars, not wars that you lose. 281 00:28:05.480 --> 00:28:13.200 A second lesson is that democracy per se will not protect our freedom or individual liberty. 282 00:28:13.200 --> 00:28:18.960 I have heard college students ask the question, why did the Greeks who invented democracy 283 00:28:18.960 --> 00:28:21.240 remain so critical of it? 284 00:28:21.240 --> 00:28:27.120 Well, the answer, of course, is that without proper restraints and the limitation of powers 285 00:28:27.120 --> 00:28:32.120 as provided by the American Constitution, a democracy can be just as tyrannical as a 286 00:28:32.120 --> 00:28:37.040 single desperate. F. A. Hayek made this point when he stated, quote, 287 00:28:37.040 --> 00:28:41.660 There can be no doubt that in history there has often been much more cultural and political 288 00:28:41.660 --> 00:28:48.340 freedom under an autocratic rule than under some democracies. And it is at least conceivable 289 00:28:48.340 --> 00:28:53.900 that under the government of a very homogeneous, doctrinaire, majority democratic government 290 00:28:53.900 --> 00:28:58.980 might become as oppressive as the worst dictatorship." 291 00:28:58.980 --> 00:29:05.060 We should learn from the war and welfare century that the greatest discovery of Western civilization 292 00:29:05.060 --> 00:29:09.540 was that liberty could be achieved only through the proper and effective limitation on the 293 00:29:09.540 --> 00:29:15.740 power of the state. It is this limitation upon the state which protects private property, 294 00:29:15.740 --> 00:29:21.580 Free market economy, personal liberties and promotes a non-interventionist foreign policy. 295 00:29:21.580 --> 00:29:27.500 And this is what will bring peace and prosperity instead of war and welfare. But it is not 296 00:29:27.500 --> 00:29:34.180 democracy per se which protects freedom. Too many people living in democracies are lulled 297 00:29:34.180 --> 00:29:38.940 into believing that they are free because they have the right to vote and elections 298 00:29:38.940 --> 00:29:44.500 are held periodically. If you take the draft as an example, I think you would find that 299 00:29:44.500 --> 00:29:49.940 If the draft were proclaimed by a sole monarch, people would revolt and disobey. However, 300 00:29:49.940 --> 00:29:54.420 in a democracy, when the politicians vote for it, the people comply and still think 301 00:29:54.420 --> 00:30:00.060 they are free. The fall of the Berlin Wall and demise of the Soviet Empire do not assure 302 00:30:00.060 --> 00:30:06.700 us that collectivism is dead. In fact, I predict that the next assault on freedom by the new 303 00:30:06.700 --> 00:30:13.500 leftist intellectuals will be through a democratic, probably a religious movement, or at least 304 00:30:13.500 --> 00:30:19.300 is one which is not anti-religious. Many, maybe most Americans who opposed communist 305 00:30:19.300 --> 00:30:25.860 Soviet Russia were convinced that it was wrong and evil because it was atheistic and godless 306 00:30:25.860 --> 00:30:32.260 and not because of its political and economic ideas. I think the new collectivist monster 307 00:30:32.260 --> 00:30:39.260 will be dressed in different clothes, advocating equality, justice, democracy and market socialism. 308 00:30:39.260 --> 00:30:45.060 It will be more important than ever for intellectuals of the future to have a correct understanding 309 00:30:45.060 --> 00:30:51.020 of the philosophy of freedom and the philosophy of the free market in order to fight collectivism 310 00:30:51.020 --> 00:30:58.440 in the twentieth century. It will take a new intellectual to do that. It will be more important 311 00:30:58.440 --> 00:31:03.620 than ever for Americans to understand why Ludwig von Mises in his book Omnipotent Government 312 00:31:03.620 --> 00:31:10.060 stated the following, quote, Durable peace is only possible under perfect capitalism, 313 00:31:10.060 --> 00:31:16.300 hitherto never and nowhere completely tried or achieved. In such a Jeffersonian world 314 00:31:16.300 --> 00:31:22.660 of the unhampered market economy, the scope of government activities is limited to the 315 00:31:22.660 --> 00:31:29.180 protection of lives, health and property of individuals against violence or fraudulent 316 00:31:29.180 --> 00:31:35.140 and Regression. All of the oratory of the advocates of government omnipotence cannot 317 00:31:35.140 --> 00:31:42.580 know the fact that there is but one system that makes durable peace, a free market economy. 318 00:31:42.580 --> 00:31:48.280 Government controls lead to economic nationalism and this results in conflict. The meaning 319 00:31:48.280 --> 00:31:53.880 of a free market which Mises states will allow us to have peace and prosperity is one where 320 00:31:53.880 --> 00:32:01.020 where the economy is free of government control, but also where economic interests do not control 321 00:32:01.020 --> 00:32:07.320 government policy, especially foreign policy, as has been the case in the 20th century. 322 00:32:07.320 --> 00:32:12.600 The highest risk for war is where various economic interests are able to control foreign 323 00:32:12.600 --> 00:32:18.000 policy to promote those particular economic interests rather than the well-being or liberty 324 00:32:18.000 --> 00:32:20.120 of the nation as a whole. 325 00:32:20.120 --> 00:32:26.480 The Mises Institute is working to promote the ideas of Mises, Hayek, Rothbard and many other 326 00:32:26.480 --> 00:32:33.440 true believers in individual freedom. These are the ideas that can make the 21st century 327 00:32:33.440 --> 00:32:40.920 one of peace and prosperity rather than war and welfare. That is why the Mises Institute 328 00:32:40.920 --> 00:32:45.920 is so important to the future of America and to the world. Thank you. 329 00:32:50.120 --> 00:32:52.120 Thank you very much.