Another paper from my Political Analysis class. This one discusses the many reasons the War on Terror cannot be won the way we were fighting it in spring 2006. Some of them still apply today, although General Petraeus has at least popularized the idea of trying to win by making friends instead of killing all the insurgents indiscriminately.
Milton Friedman is a genius. This I don’t doubt. I do think he got it pretty wrong in Capitalism & Freedom, though. This paper I wrote (the second in my “Political Analysis” class) explains why.
On reposting I’ve noticed a few points left out of my argument, so don’t take this as a definitive description of my current beliefs on the subject.
A Response to Milton Friedman
Since the beginning of the Cold War, communism has been anathema to the people of the United States. The free market is worshiped as the God all free nations must follow; despite the popularity of such programs as Social Security, a policy accused of being socialist is barely more likely to pass than one legalizing murder. In the beginning chapters of Capitalism And Freedom, Milton Friedman promotes the basis for this position. Unfortunately, while his individual arguments are well-founded, as a whole they are misapplied and neglect to engage other valid world views that oppose them on their very foundational assumptions. Throughout this essay I discuss the foundational reasons his arguments might be considered void, the inconsistencies within the arguments themselves, and why modern socialism is exempt from many of his arguments against it.
Continue reading “Paper: Capitalism & Freedom”
This post was my first paper in my freshman-year “Political Analysis” class.
The world changed on September 11th, 2001. The nature of our enemies and the nature by which we must oppose them changed. The Bush Administration and commentators such as Charles Krauthammer have argued that the nature of terrorism justifies — even requires — unilateral military action. But this belief is shortsighted and ignores significant benefits of multilateral work. In fact, unilateral military action should never be utilized in the War on Terror unless needed to stop an attack in progress. This viewpoint holds under both surgical missile or commando strikes and under prolonged military campaigns; it is supported by moral, political, and financial arguments.
Continue reading “Paper: Multilateralism’s Role in the War on Terror”