Just War Theory” vs. American Self-Defense

http://www.theobjectivestandard.com/issues/2006-spring/just-war-theory.asp ^ | Yaron Brook and Alex Epstein

[ventanax5]

When Ayn Rand wrote about the moral code she originated, the code of rational self-interest, she stressed that morality is a matter of life and death. The right ethics, she held, leads to individual (and societal) survival, prosperity, happiness; the wrong ethics leads to misery, poverty, death.

This is true in every field but is especially true in the realm of war, as the present struggle has made clear. We are losing the war on Islamic Totalitarianism because our leadership, political and military, is crippled by the morality of altruism, embodied in the tenets of Just War Theory. The moral code inherent in Just War Theory defines rules that undercut, inhibit, and subvert any hope of success in war, because it demands that one regard one’s own life as the sacrificial object of others. The moral code of rational self-interest, by contrast, defines principles to attain the values that one’s life and happiness require—including success in war and national self-defense. Altruism is the morality of defeat, and rational self-interest is the morality of victory.

America faces a choice between two irreconcilable foes: self-defense or altruism—which are but forms of the basic choice we all face: life or death. Let us choose life.

[nmh]

“When Ayn Rand wrote about the moral code she originated, the code of rational self-interest, she stressed that morality is a matter of life and death. “

Oh, good grief!

Not Rand again.

Her “morlaity” was nothing more than worshipping money. Her personal morality was that of an alley cat in heat. She was also one MISERABLE person. To be an atthesit is not to be a happy camper. Rand rationalized herself into self serving misery.

[SShultz460]

Why post an 18 month old story?

[littlehouse36]

<< Her “morlaity” was nothing more than worshipping money. Her personal morality was that of an alley cat in heat. She was also one MISERABLE person. To be an atthesit is not to be a happy camper. Rand rationalized herself into self serving misery. >>

Well said. Although I loved reading “Atlas Shrugged”, the protaganist (Dagny Taggart) had meaningless, empty relationships with her men. I remembered thinking how sad life must have been for Ayn Rand.

[GBA]

IF we are losing the war against islamic terror, it is because the liberals, with the support of the MSM, are at war against conservatism world wide for political power. They cannot report our successes in this war and the reluctantly report the savagery of the islamic crazies. Thus, the average world citizen doesn't have the outrage necessary for us to eradicate islamic terror, nor the information necessary to realize just how well we are doing.

In short, the average MSM educated citizen doesn't know why we fight, might even feel sorry for the terrorists rather than their victims and probably thinks we are in a losing fight against a lost cause.

In a war of good against evil, as I believe the war against islamic terror to be, there are no conscientious objectors. One is on one side or the other. Choosing lust for power is a clear choice for the dark side.

[AZLiberty]

This is a long article, but what I get out of it is this:

After 9/11, we should have nuked the hell out of Afghanistan and Iran, and then asked the remaining Islamofascists, "Who's next?".

[cookcounty]

During the time of the "Just War Theory", attacks were small, and what could be accomplished in a single stroke was small. War was waged by many, many sustained man-on-man attacks. Casualties occurred one or two or three at a time.

Now vast mass casualties can be accomplished instantaneously, in a single stroke. This changes the way we think about war, the way we think about the idea of pre-emption.