War and Peace
Si vis pacem, para bellum.
(If you want peace, prepare for war.)
Combined with a realistic grasp of human nature, this aphorism constitutes an argument for maintaining powerful national defense capacities.
What do I mean by “a realistic grasp of human nature”? One might contend that, in specific circumstances, human life is such that its condition can be reduced to a war of all against all. As Hobbes put it in De Cive:
“conditionem hominum extra societatem civilem, quam conditionem appellare liceat statum naturæ, aliam non esse quam bellum omnium contra omnes.”
“the condition of men outside civil society, which condition we may call the state of nature, is nothing other than the war of all against all.”
Hobbes speaks of a war of all persons against all others. However, if we move to the sphere of geopolitics, one might argue that its condition can devolve into a war of all nations against all nations. To ignore this fact and thus fail to prepare for it is to risk the death of one’s homeland, which is the height of folly – that is, assuming one’s nation is worth preserving.
By the way, the following modification also makes sense:
Si vis bellum, para pacem.
(If you want war, prepare for peace.)
An important aspect of just war theory is that if war occurs, it should be fought for the sake of eventual peace and that adequate preparation for this peace should be a priority.
* The question of whether or not the U. S. is justified in spending this much (approaching one trillion annually) is a different one altogether. U. S. leaders ought to explain to taxpayers why this astronomical number is warranted. Still different is the question of whether or not the U. S. spends its defense funds wisely.