The war, therefore, if we judge it by the standards of previous wars, is merely an imposture. It is like the battles between certain ruminant animals whose horns are set at such an angle that they are incapable of hurting one another. But though it is unreal it is not meaningless. It eats up the surplus of consumable goods, and it helps to preserve the special mental atmosphere that a hierarchical society needs. War, it will be seen, is now a purely internal affair. In the past, the ruling groups of all countries, although they might recognize their common interest and therefore limit the destructiveness of war, did fight against one another, and the victor always plundered the vanquished. In our own day they are not fighting against one another at all. The war is waged by each ruling group against its own subjects, and the object of the war is not to make or prevent conquests of territory, but to keep the structure of society intact. The very word 'war', therefore, has become misleading. It would probably be accurate to say that by becoming continuous war has ceased to exist. The peculiar pressure that it exerted on human beings between the Neolithic Age and the early twentieth century has disappeared and been replaced by something quite different. The effect would be much the same if the three super-states, instead of fighting one another, should agree to live in perpetual peace, each inviolate within its own boundaries. For in that case each would still be a self-contained universe, freed for ever from the sobering influence of external danger. A peace that was truly permanent would be the same as a permanent war. This
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The environment is worth more than consumer goods and the g.n.p. freedom of speech is absolute and inviolate. guns are too dangerous for private ownership. sustainable & non-polluting energy sources make environmental and economic sense. research performed on animals is, by definition, scientifically unsound. cruelty is unacceptable. what you do with your own body is your choice. one individual violently imposing his or her will on another individual is wrong. you can't expect people to worry about the world when they can't feed themselves or their children. the hazards and risks of nuclear power make it unacceptable as an energy source. the use of animals for food is unhealthy, inefficient, & cruel. people need love & affection. tobacco use has killed & harmed more people than all human wars combined.
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Far-off, most secret, and inviolate Rose, Enfold me in my hour of hours; where those...
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Those rights, then, which God and nature have established, and are therefore called natural rights, such as life and liberty, need not the aid of human laws to be more effectually invested in every man than they are; neither do they receive any additional strength when declared by the municipal laws to be inviolate. On the contrary, no human legislature has power to abridge or destroy them, unless the owner shall himself commit some act that amounts to a forfeiture.
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