'Stylishly designating efforts to solve national ills as "wars" ...

...doesn't convert them into something appropriate for the employment of military forces. '

 

Origins of American Military Coup

 

This equation of "moral equivalence of war" is a Fascist hangover. Jonah Goldberg talks about it at length in his book "Liberal Fascism". Just like the author postulates in his notional letter from prison, there is a danger of combining too many power centers, concentrating too much ability into what seems like a good idea at the time (if one has no cognizence of historical trends in political power concentrations.)

 

Most people, even when doing something for themselves, rationalize it as being reasonable and good. If a leader seizes power, it's not for his own good, but for "efficiency" or the "people".

 

I have a LOT of confidence in our military and the individuals who make up that force. But it's an institution that could go astray, particularly when it's deliberately perverted beyond its mission. And the timeframe is important: over generations, with constant and deliberate pressure, any organization can be subverted, no matter how noble. Even the institution of the family has been under attack and suffering for decades, and look at the results of that.