What is your stance on foreign policy? There is clear disagreement between neo-cons and libertarians on this one. Neo-cons believe that America has a moral obligation to police the world and to build democratic nations abroad. Libertarians believe in non-interventionism - that we shouldnt go to war unless our safety is threatened. Personally, I am somewhere in the middle. I am definitely not as pro-war as the neo-cons. Nation building is a bad idea. It costs money, it costs lives, and it is generally not welcomed. People have different values and they view Americans as intrusive. It has created more enemies for us, not less. We could scale back military spending considerably and be better off fiscally while also increasing security. But libertarians take non-interventionism too far. Theyve lost sight of the classical liberal principles when they oppose intervention at all costs. Classical liberalism states that intervention is allowed when the spoils of war exceed the costs of war. A classical liberal would agree that Americas involvement in WWII was justified. A classical liberal would even say blood for oil is okay if the oil is needed for the population. Libertarians should learn to think more along the lines of their classically liberal roots. The same thing goes for foreign aid. In 2010, Congress voted on whether or not to send Israel aid to finish building its Iron Dome. The Iron Dome is a defense system that is effective at blocking incoming missiles. It cannot be turned into a weapon. All it does is save lives and protect buildings. Congress vote was 410-4 in favor of aid. The 4 that opposed included 3 Democrats and Ron Paul. [1] Paul obviously opposed the aid on purely ideological grounds. He votes against sending any aid to any country. But in this case his ideology made a dumb decision. The aid, a miniscule cost, was an investment for America. It was a cheap and easy way to protect assets. Do the benefits outweigh the costs? If yes, then intervention is okay. (JZ) [1] clerk.house.gov/evs/2010/roll284.xml
Posted on: Wed, 07 Jan 2015 23:18:44 +0000