Patriotism doesn’t mean blind loyalty to the Military Industrial Complex

This Memorial Day, we encourage you to read our compelling works on the problems of the military industrial complex and permanent warfare state.

Why? Because since the end of the Cold War, politicians on both sides of the aisle have eagerly sent young men (and now women) onto the battlefield and into harm’s way—but for what? In our time, unlike on the first Memorial Day, 30 May 1868, “the soldiers’ and sailors’ widow and orphan” certainly play absolutely no role in the calculations of our power-hungry national security elite.

Instead, these bumbling and hubristic frauds shamelessly pursue war after war to maintain their grip on power.

That’s why Senior Fellows Christopher J. Coyne and Abigail R. Hall have written a masterful—and much needed—takedown of our warfare state.

How to Run Wars: A Confidential Playbook for the National Security Elite is the satirical portrait of America’s contemporary military-industrial complex. Drawing inspiration from the 1936 classic How to Run a War, by Bruce W. Knight, this book is a must-read for anyone who would know the truth about America’s endless wars and the people who run them…

…but what of the people who fight the wars?

It should come as no surprise that those who wage war are usually not the same as those who fight in them.

And yet, how has this happened in a nation supposedly “of the people, for the people, and by the people”?

Senior Fellow and Director of the Center on Peace and Liberty Ivan Eland, in his book War and the Rogue Presidency: Restoring the Republic after Congressional Failure, eloquently describes the problem. He shows how Congress—the branch of government closest to the ordinary American citizen—has shamefully abdicated its role in foreign policy, allowing American presidents to conduct wars unilaterally.

Indeed, almost all recent wars have occurred without a declaration of war as required by the Constitution. Our leaders take zero accountability for crushing defeats and colossal losses of blood and treasure.

We need a bold alternative to the unaccountable and inhumane activities of the permanent warfare state.

Senior Fellow Christopher J. Coyne charts a new course in his book In Search of Monsters to Destroy: The Folly of American Empire and the Paths to Peace.

Memorial Day is a perfect occasion to crack open this book and learn about workable, proven alternatives to imperialism, militarism, and empire … all of which, unfortunately, our ruling class ignores.

Coyne shows readers there is another way, one that preserves freedom, promotes security, and fosters mutually enriching friendship among the nations of the earth without the need for an ever-growing warfare state.

At Independent Institute, we work hard to emphasize the importance of peace and commerce between people of all countries. Though those in power routinely dismiss and deride the need for military restraint, our work at the Institute lights the way toward a different world.