War! What Is It Good For?
Why aren't wars of conquest cool anymore?
Lots of computer game addicts have recently taken to Twitter to endorse Trump going to war with Denmark over Greenland.
Should America conquer Greenland?
No.
Why not?
For the same reason that Rose City Antifa shouldn’t be allowed to occupy Trump Tower. A world in which property rights are respected is better than one in which they aren’t.
But why aren’t wars of conquest cool anymore?
After all, military conquest was long the chief avocation of kings.
Not everybody was fine with that. The medieval Catholic Church worked to limit war, declaring numerous holy days off limits for fighting. And, it tried to persuade the descendants of the barbarian warlords who took over Europe with the fall of the Roman Empire that they were gentlemen (with a more literal interpretation of “gentle”).
But, still, warlords are gonna war.
On the other hand, …
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