Isolationism; F. Chodrov

Reprinted with permission. the name of their congressman or take the slightest interest in how he votes on given issues? It has become standard procedure for soci 010gists and politicians to take opinion polls and to deduce behavior patterns from such data. Yet, it is a fact that the subject matters of these polls do not touch on matters in which the questionees are vitally interested, but are topics in which the pollsters have a concern. Putting aside the possibility of so framing the questions as to elicit replies the pollsters want, the fact is that the pride of the question ees can well influence their answers. Thus, a housewife who has been asked for her opinion on South African apartheid, for instance, will feel flattered that she has been singled out for the honor and will feel impelled to give some answer, usually a predigested opinion taken from a newspaper editorial; she will not say honestly that she knows nothing about apartheid and cares less. On the other hand, if she were asked about the baking of an apple pie, she would come up with an intelligent answer; but the sociologists are not interested in knowing how to bake an apple pie.

The scientist immersed in the laboratory will weigh carefully any question put to him regarding the subject matter of his science and will probably not come up with a yes-or no answer; but he is positive that the nation ought to recognize the Chinese communist regime, because he heard another scientist say so. The baseball fan who knows the batting average of every member of his team, on the 23 24 THE FREEMAN/IDEAS ON LIBERTY • WAR IN THE BALKANS • JULY 1999 ~ >'( )I( ~ >'( )I()( )< )( other hand, will denounce the recognition of the regime because he has heard that the "Reds" are no good. The student whose grades are just about passing will speak out boldly on the U.N., reflecting the opinion of his professor on that organization. Everybody has opinions on international subjects, because the newspapers have opinions on them, and the readers like to be "in the swim." That is to say, interventionism is a fad stimu lated by the public press, and like a fad, had no real substance behind it. If a poll were to be taken on the subject of our going to war, the probability is that very few would vote for the proposition; yet, war is the ultimate of interventionism, and the opposition to it is proof enough that we are isolationist in our sympathies. A poll on the subject of isolation ism-something like "Do you believe we ought to keep out of. the politics of other nations and ought to let them work out their problems without our interference?"-might bring out some interesting conclusions; but the politicians and the energumens of inter ventionism would prefer not to conduct such a poll. Our "foreign-aid" program has never been subjected to a plebiscite.

A Natural Attitude Isolationism is not a political policy, it is a natural attitude of a people. It is adjustment to the prevailing culture within a country, and a feeling of security within that adjustment. The traditions, the political and social institutions, and the moral values that obtain seem good, the people do not wish them to be disturbed by peoples with other backgrounds and, what is more, they do not feel any call to impose their own customs and values on strangers. This does not mean that they will not voluntarily borrow from other cultures or that they will surround themselves with parochial walls. Long before interventionism became a fixed policy of the government, American students went to Europe to complete their education and immigrants introduced their exotic foods to the American table. But these were volun tary adoptions, even as we welcomed German and Italian operas and applauded the British lecturers who came here to decry our lack of manners. We certainly enjoyed the bananas and coffee imported from Latin American countries, and, while we might deplore their habit of setting up dictatorships, we felt no obligation to inject ourselves into their politi cal affairs; that was their business, not ours.

This was the general attitude of the Ameri can people before the experiment in interven tionism known as World War I. Before that event, Woodrow Wilson had taken leave of his senses in backing one revolutionary leader against another in Mexico, and had even sent the marines to support his choice; his excuse for opposing Huerta was that that leader had not been "democratically" elected, overlook ing the fact that 80 percent of the Mexicans were simply incapable of making a choice, or of caring about it.. From that interventionary exploit we garnered a mistrust of American intentions vis-a-vis Mexico which haunts us to this day. But, Wilson's urgency to introduce "democracy" in Mexico was purely a person al idiosyncrasy, shared by his political entourage but not by the American people. We cared little about which brigand, Huerta or Carranza, got to the top, and were stirred up only by the fact that a number of American boys were killed in Wilson's invasion.

When World War II got going in Europe and it became evident that Roosevelt was intent on getting us into it, a group of Americans orga nized the America First Committee for the purpose of arousing the native spirit of isola tionism to the point of frustrating his intent. They were for keeping the nation neutral. For various reasons (particularly Pearl Harbor) their plan failed, even though at the beginning they gained the adherence of many Americans. One flaw in their program was a tendency toward protectionism; the anti-involvement became identified with "Buy American" slo gans and with high tariffs; that is, with eco nomic, rather than political, isolationism. Eco nomic isolationism-tariffs, quotas, embar goes, and general governmental interference with international trade-is an irritant that can well lead to war, or political interventionism. To build a trade wall around a country is to invite reprisals, which in tum make for misunderstanding and mistrust. Besides, free trade carries with it an appreciation of the cultures of the trading countries, and a feeling of good will among the peoples engaged. Free trade is natural, protectionism is political.

The America First Committee's opposition to our entry into the war was based on politi cal and economic considerations. It is a well known fact that during a war the state acquires powers which it does not relinquish when hostilities are over. When the enemy is at the city gates, or the illusion that he is com ing can be put into people's minds, the ten dency is to tum over to the captain all the powers he deems necessary to keep the enemy away. Liberty is downgraded in favor of pro tection. But, when the enemy is driven away, the state finds reason enough to hold onto its acquired powers. Thus, conscription, which Roosevelt reintroduced at the beginning of the war, has become the permanent policy of the government, and militarism, which is the opposite of freedom, has been incorporated into our mores. Whether or not this eventual ity was in Roosevelt's mind is not germane; it is inherent in the character of the state. Taxes imposed ostensibly "for the duration" have become permanent, the bureaucracy built up during the war has not been dismantled, and interventions in the economy necessary for the prosecution of war are now held to be;nec essary for the welfare of the people.... ' Fatal Conceit As isolationism is a natural attitude of the people, so interventionism is a conceit of the political leader. There does not seem to be area enough in the world to satiate his desire to exercise his power or, at least, his influence.

Just as the mayor of a town hopes to become governor of his state, a congressman, or even president, so does the president or the king of a country deem it his duty to look beyond the immediate job of running his country. Neces sity limits the interventionary inclination of the head of a small country, unless, indeed, he finds a neighboring small country incapable of resisting his advances. But, given a nation opulent enough to maintain a sizable military ISOLATIONISM 25 1'<: '* establishment and an adequate bureaucracy, his sights are lifted beyond the borders. To be sure, his interest is.always the enlightenment or the betterment of the people over whom he seeks to extend his dominion or influence, never to exploit them. Thus, Alexander the Great offered the benefits of Hellenic civiliza tion to the people of Asia, the Roman legions carried Pax Romana at the tip of their spears, and Napoleon imposed French "liberte, fra ternite, egalite" on the peoples of Europe, whether they wanted it or not. Hitler tried to extend the influence of Aryanism and the late British Empire was built on the premise that a taste of English civilization would do the natives good.

"Foreign policy" is the euphemism which covers up this inclination toward intervention ism. About the only foreign·policy consistent with the natural isolationism of a people would be one designed to prevent interference of a foreign power in the internal affairs of the country; that is, protection from invasion. But that is too limited in scope to satisfy the crav ings of the government of a powerful country. Theodore Roosevelt's foreign policy was avowedly designed to spread among other peoples the benefits of American civiliza tion-even at the end of a Big Stick. Without an income tax, he could do very little beyond the display of naval might to execute this pur pose, and the job was undertaken by Woodrow Wilson. It is interesting to note that Wilson was by persuasion an antimilitarist and an isolationist; yet the exigencies of office induced him to lead the country into war and into the missionary purpose of spreading American democracy far and wide. He failed, partly because the peoples of the world were not willing to adopt the American tradition and partly because he could not break down American resistance to interventionism. It remained for Franklin D. Roosevelt, aided and abetted by the Great Depression and a great war, to do that. And now that a monstrous bureaucracy with a vested interest in inter ventionism is in control of our "foreign poli cy," the nation is committed to a program of interference in the affairs of every country in the world. D WAR IN THE BALKANS HowWarAmplifiedFederal Powerin the TwentiethCentury by Robert Higgs A fter surveying the Western world in the past six centuries, Bruce Porter conclud ed: "a government at war is a juggernaut of centralization determined to crush any inter nal opposition that impedes the mobilization of militarily vital resources. This centralizing tendency of war has made the rise of the state throughout much of history a disaster for human liberty and rights."l As a cause of the development of big government in the United States, however, war seldom receives its due.