Myth of National Defense

Really, nothing good.

We of the libertarian persuasion have often returned to the notion of a central government that is necessary to enforce the Bill of Rights and to secure a national defense.

Read this and come away with a totally different perspective based on reason, history and of course, human nature and free markets.

I was persuaded and am now convinced, a civilized society can peacefully exist without a standing army and conscription.  In fact, it is more likely to be at peace without these things.

Read and learn.

It is an excellent read. Hoppe's intellect is truly a marvel. Much of the book is a quick overview of military history that goes back at least 1000 years, from the private mercenary armies of kings, to the total world wars. His revisionist view of WWI and the types of government as well is also refreshing.

Due to this being a collection of multiple works, there are some issues, such as the "free rider" problem, left unresolved by some authors, that are addressed later in the book. Also, the section on Game Theory and Nuclear Weapons has some advanced math. Not being up on my Calculus, I skipped it.

If only I had read this book two years ago. Having only just begun to get into Ron Paul's writings, I was unfamiliar with Libertarianism and its vast body of work. I was attending American University's Washington Semester Program, and I was doing a research paper on the Army's Future Combat Systems. If I ever expand it into a book, my thesis will get a massive overhaul, thanks to Hoppe.

I don't have a real review to write up at the moment, I just couldn't stand seeing such a great collection reduced to a one star rating. This collection is worth it if not simply for the "Monarchy and War" essay by Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn; I learned more from that one reading than I did in my entire government school sentence.

unadulterated clap-trap; nonsense; naive; and totally out of touch with today's reality as well as our history.    Don't waste your money

I would remind the learned above Authors of the Fpundation of our Republic, the Constitution with all of its Amendments.
Article 1, Section 8, Congress has the Power: To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations. Congress has the power: To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make rules concerning Captures on Land and Water.
These two parts are often referred to as the forgotten parts of Section *.
Nuclear Weapons were created and maintained under a n agreed program between the USSR and the USA, called MAD, Mutually assured Destruction.
Now in these More Modern times, we must ask ourselves, Is the destruction of Terrorist, Wherever they may be, worth the price of the collateral damage to the hundreds of thousands of Innocents affectd by the radiation?
My answer is no. That if we were to do so, where would the differnce lie between the Terrorist and us?
It is best to hunt them down with Drones.