“Fact is the primary casualty of warfare.”
This saying is claimed to have its origins in historic Greece, within the writings of the playwright Aeschylus. Thus, for 1000’s of years it has been acknowledged that almost all wars are wars of conquest by way of mass homicide, plunder, and destruction. For the ruling courses, warfare is a chance. For the residents, warfare means demise or crippling damage, taxes, debt, sacrifice, and lack of freedoms. Therefore the necessity for mountains of lies.
“[O]f course the individuals don’t need warfare,” the infamous Hermann Goring declared through the Nuremberg trials. “All you must do,” he continued, “is inform them they’re being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism…. It really works the identical means in any nation.”
Goring was proper. And generally the exact same individuals who lied nations into warfare, then lied concerning the conduct of the warfare, have gone on to put in writing statist histories of their wars!
The state and its courtroom historians spend numerous assets bamboozling the general public into believing within the state’s prescience, benevolence, and omnipotence whereas denigrating—and mendacity about—free market capitalism, the civil society, and the free society typically. By no means is the state’s bamboozling and mendacity extra excessive than when the topic is warfare, for warfare is the very well being of the state, as Randolph Bourne wrote in his well-known essay of the identical identify.
However is is just not true that the victors at all times write historical past. We are able to write the historical past of warfare too, and that’s precisely what we’re going to do with our first historical past convention in nearly thirty years.
Our Revisionist Historical past of Battle Convention might be held on Could 15-17, 2025, on the Mises Institute. We’ll host an thrilling lineup of Misesian and Rothbardian audio system who will illustrate for us—and the world—simply why, for hundreds of years, so many realized commentators have expressed the conviction that lies and propaganda are a vital ingredient—certainly the important ingredient—of warfare.
Please be part of us in Auburn subsequent Could for this well timed, essential, and historic occasion. The Mises Institute will publish all these radical revisionist warfare talks as an edited quantity, a testomony to the reality towards the onslaughts of propaganda to return.
Registration and agenda particulars coming quickly.
