SWGA Politics

Non-Interventionism, The Sexton Doctrine, and GI Joe[ January 24, 2010 – 6:29 am]by Jeff Posted in » General

Last night I got into a discussion with a conservative who is clearly a big proponent of interventionism. This person thinks that the only way to protect America is to fight them over there before they can come over here. This person said that the libertarian philosophy of non-interventionism doesn’t work because it allows attacks to happen here.

This person clearly doesn’t understand the philosophy of non-interventionism, at least as I see it.

Non-interventionism seeks peaceful relationships with all. It works to avoid or reduce any attacks from any side, while allowing all sides to maintain a position of strength in their own affairs. Similarly, the Sexton Doctrine’s “Absorb the first blow” seeks to avoid or minimize any attack.

Instead of a massive offensive military designed to fight vast wars over a period of decades, non-interventionism and the Sexton Doctrine use a military that is more focused on intelligence, rapid surgical strikes, and superior defense.
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The Sexton Doctrine[ November 26, 2009 – 6:49 am]by Jeff Posted in » National

The “Sexton Doctrine” is how I look at every single conflict, from personal all the way through international. Briefly stated, it is:

Absorb the first strike, and make DANG SURE you deliver the LAST strike

It is a philosophy of both strong defense AND overwhelming offensive capabilities that are held in check by an overriding desire for peace.

It is under this philosophy that I can be BOTH an ardent non-interventionist AND a proponent of military research and development (ie spending).
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North Korea: A Different Perspective[ May 30, 2009 – 7:15 am]by Tom Posted in » National

Yesterday, Jeff wrote about his thoughts on North Korea.  Unlike most issues, I have to disagree.  You see, while I think a policy like Jeff points out would work out in time, there’s a few obstacles.  The primary one being a policy of intervention that’s been at work through the bulk of the 20th Century. Read More …

North Korea[ May 29, 2009 – 6:03 pm]by Jeff Posted in » Editorial

Obviously, North Korea has been the subject of quite a bit of press and speculation recently. They’ve conducted a test of a bigger nuclear weapon than the one we already knew about, they’re working on enhancing their missiles’ range, they’ve tested some newer short range missiles, etc. They’ve also said that they are no longer bound by the Armistice that ended the Korean War more than 50 years ago.

Cato has a couple of excellent articles about what is going on and what we should do about it – we should be realistic and restrained, but basically ignore them. Personally, I completely concur with these assessments.
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