re: "National Security Part 5: The Power Elite"

The Curmudgeon Emeritus at Eternity Road takes a dim view of where we're headed.

Money quote(s):

"(C)itizen morale is an important -- nay, indispensable -- component of the national security. It determines how many of us will answer a "call to the colors," and how ardently we'll undertake the tasks it demands.

For most of its history, the United States was a high-morale society. Indeed, Albert Jay Nock, one of the premier cynics of his time, described our morale as like unto "an army on the march." It was so high that it sent millions of men into combat to protect and liberate faceless others, not once but twice."

"From the standpoint of the private individual, convinced by the words and deeds of the power elite that he is merely fodder for the State's schemes, disaffiliating from the nation and concentrating on personal security and gain is both reflexive and purely rational. Why should he take up arms to defend something that ceaselessly strives to shackle and mulct him? Why should he accept a politician's plea that he sacrifice for the greater good? He's been persuaded that a sacrifice is all he'll ever be. There's no future in it."

"Matters become particularly grave when the power elite acquires a general reputation for considering itself above the law. Law in a Western nation is nominally superior to any individual; that's the basis of republican governance. Lawbreakers are supposedly conceded no immunities because of their station in life. But in recent years, the practice has diverged greatly from the theory.

Should the power elite manifest a disdain for the requirements of the law through its actions, it will be exceedingly difficult to conceal that attitude from the citizenry. As no one ever thinks of himself as "below" anyone else, the inevitable consequence is the evaporation of respect for the law as such. Citizens will ignore, evade, and outrightly break the law whenever it's possible, safe, and to their advantage. Even the most popular laws will be indifferently enforced, as the enforcers will progressively more often "sell exemptions" -- i.e., look the other way for a consideration -- than act according to the black-letter law and their public responsibilities. They, too, have their individual interests to serve.

Domestic law and the prevailing level of respect for it might not seem relevant to national security. Yet there are forces, some overtly hostile, that exploit our willingness to break our own laws. The general incoherence of our attitude toward illegal immigration provides an excellent case study: it's not just job-hungry Mexicans that flow across our borders. The ongoing traffic in illegal drugs, and the intentions of those whom it funds, provide another." (Bold typeface added for emphasis.)

&

"(A) set of dynamics have operated, since the end of World War II at least, to reduce American national security. In part, it's because we've accepted more external commitments than we can honor, whether because of the finity of our forces or the strains on our pocketbooks. But in greater part, it's because of the social, economic, and political deterioration we've allowed here at home.

Your Curmudgeon must reluctantly assess America's national security as low, perhaps dangerously low. The extreme risk-aversion of our major foreign enemies is our main protection at this time. Even a small chance that the awesome military power we command might be deployed against them is enough to deter them...for now. But individuals and groups already within our borders that have acted to undermine our law, our economy, and our morale from within are exposed to no such risk -- and their successes to date have emboldened still other persons and groups, including some that are nominally, but in no other way, American."