nothing inherently unworkable about this plan, and using the existing military
system to effectuate its own demise is both ingenious and convenient. But even
on a greatly magnified world basis, social-welfare expenditures must sooner or
later reenter the atmosphere of the normal economy. The practical transitional
virtues of such a scheme would thus be eventually negated by its inadequacy as
a permanent economic stabilizer.
POLITICAL
The war system makes the stable government of societies possible. It does this
essentially by providing an external necessity for a society to accept political
rule. In so doing, it establishes the basis for nationhood and the authority of
government to control its constituents. What other institution or combination of
programs might serve these functions in its place?
We have already pointed out that the end of the war means the end of national
sovereignty, and thus the end of nationhood as we know it today. But this does
not necessarily mean the end of nations in the administrative sense, and internal
political power will remain essential to a stable society. The emerging "nations"
of the peace epoch must continue to draw political authority from some source.
A number of proposals have been made governing the relations between nations
after total disarmament; all are basically juridical in nature. They contemplate
institutions more or less like a World Court, or a United Nations, but vested
with real authority. They may or may not serve their ostensible post-military
purpose of settling international disputes, but we need not discuss that here.
None would offer effective external pressure on a peace-world nation to
organize itself politically.
It might be argued that a well-armed international police force, operating under
the authority of such a supranational "court," could well serve the function of
external enemy. This, however, would constitute a military operation, like the
inspection schemes mentioned, and, like them, would be inconsistent with the
premise of an end to the war system. It is possible that a variant of the
"Unarmed Forces" idea might be developed in such a way that its "constructive"
(i.e., social welfare) activities could be combined with an economic "threat" of
sufficient size and credibility to warrant political organization. Would this kind
of threat also be contradictory to our basic premise?--that is, would it be
inevitably military? Not necessarily, in our view, but we are skeptical of its
capacity to evoke credibility. Also, the obvious destabilizing effect of any
global social welfare surrogate on politically necessary class relationships
system to effectuate its own demise is both ingenious and convenient. But even
on a greatly magnified world basis, social-welfare expenditures must sooner or
later reenter the atmosphere of the normal economy. The practical transitional
virtues of such a scheme would thus be eventually negated by its inadequacy as
a permanent economic stabilizer.
POLITICAL
The war system makes the stable government of societies possible. It does this
essentially by providing an external necessity for a society to accept political
rule. In so doing, it establishes the basis for nationhood and the authority of
government to control its constituents. What other institution or combination of
programs might serve these functions in its place?
We have already pointed out that the end of the war means the end of national
sovereignty, and thus the end of nationhood as we know it today. But this does
not necessarily mean the end of nations in the administrative sense, and internal
political power will remain essential to a stable society. The emerging "nations"
of the peace epoch must continue to draw political authority from some source.
A number of proposals have been made governing the relations between nations
after total disarmament; all are basically juridical in nature. They contemplate
institutions more or less like a World Court, or a United Nations, but vested
with real authority. They may or may not serve their ostensible post-military
purpose of settling international disputes, but we need not discuss that here.
None would offer effective external pressure on a peace-world nation to
organize itself politically.
It might be argued that a well-armed international police force, operating under
the authority of such a supranational "court," could well serve the function of
external enemy. This, however, would constitute a military operation, like the
inspection schemes mentioned, and, like them, would be inconsistent with the
premise of an end to the war system. It is possible that a variant of the
"Unarmed Forces" idea might be developed in such a way that its "constructive"
(i.e., social welfare) activities could be combined with an economic "threat" of
sufficient size and credibility to warrant political organization. Would this kind
of threat also be contradictory to our basic premise?--that is, would it be
inevitably military? Not necessarily, in our view, but we are skeptical of its
capacity to evoke credibility. Also, the obvious destabilizing effect of any
global social welfare surrogate on politically necessary class relationships
