foreigners’ foreign policy. Collective enterprises may be inert and benign like coral reefs. But even then, they’re thoughtless and stupid and lack individual liberty and dignity... When humans are involved, you do as you’re told, when you’re told, usually by a government whose only interest is its own preservation of power. Human collective enterprises are busy and active and fraught with potential for, at best, amoral conduct Foreign policy is always a collective enterprise. Even the freest nations bind their citizens into collective enterprises, particularly when it comes to international relations. The dictators and oligarchs might be, individually, nice enough people. (I have it on good authority that even Bashar al- Assad is personable around the house.) But they will give into the temptations of their collective power. And collective power, unlike individual liberty, is not constrained by reason. Likewise, mob rule is extremely dangerous no matter whether the mob is wearing slogan t-shirts and carrying hand- lettered placards or wearing bed sheets and carrying flaming crosses. In other words, collective enterprises suck, and foreign policy is one. So, what’s the solution? and, at worst, outright evils such as dictatorship, oligarchy, or mob rule.
An assembly of nations cannot be governed like an assembly of individuals. Nations don’t have equal rights before the law because... there isn’t any law. (Oh, supposedly, there’s such a thing as “International Law” but, really? Nice try, World Court in the Hague.) Foreign policy is ruled by force. Matthew 11:12 says, “The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent bear it away.” Foreign policy is never an individual enterprise. “ I’m going to invade Ukraine,” is a harmless statement – at most a plea for help from mental health professionals. “ Russia is going to invade Ukraine,” is a different kind of statement. Especially if it’s made by the Kremlin. Foreign policy is always a collective enterprise. Even the freest nations bind their citizens into collective enterprises, particularly when it comes to international relations. In fact, international relations are worse than actual relations, like my Grandfather O’Rourke said, “I don’t care if the kids next door all won Nobel Peace Prizes and all your cousins are in jail, family is family .” Collective enterprise undercuts individual enterprise. Inside a free nation, individual self-interests are balanced through democracy and rule of law. Therefore, individual enterprise can be assumed to be – in the long term, on average, in aggregate – rational. Collective enterprise can be assumed to be no such thing. Collective enterprises, such as foreign policy, have no balancing mechanisms with other collective enterprises, such as
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May 2019
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