A major war is forever the defining event of a generation. It is no wonder that they are said to divide history with their earth-shaking consequences. In the history of the west, there have been three wars that truly marked new eras in history. These were the European civil war of 1914-1945, the Thirty Years War, and the Peloponnesian war. From 431-404 BC. The latter is largely remembered as a self-destructive atrocity never to be repeated. Today, all Greeks see themselves as culturally united and the war as shameful brother killing. The great tragedy of the war was the end of peace and unity among the Greeks. Greek brotherhood was undermined by the state to produce war, famine, economic conquest, and death. Terrible war ended the Greek golden age, overturned the Delian League, and shifted the balance of power. The present situation of the west is deeply analogous to this ancient period. This essay will explore the parallels between the two ages and their implications on history.
Collusion between states will typically happen after a major war, and the Greek example was no different. Similar to postwar NATO, the Delian league was formed in response to an eastern threat. Like NATO, the alliance initially proved its value through wars and interventions spearheaded by the dominant power, Athens. But after the Peace of Callias, many members questioned the purpose of their continued membership. For protection, each member state was expected to contribute to 'the cause of freedom'. The most controversial requirement was the building of ships, which was often just outsourced to Athens. With so much money flowing through the treasury, Athens began to embezzle funds to build monuments and public works. Eventually, the Athenians even moved the treasury into their own city, a clear sign of imperial intent. Athens being Athens, she answered objections by citing the cost of rebuilding her city. Embezzlement is corrupt, but not so corrupt as the scandalous plundering of America to fund foreign aid programs.
During the same period, Athens became aggressively imperialistic. Modern America loves her puppets, but Athens also enjoyed colonies throughout Ionia, the Bosporus, and the Aegean islands. Strangely similar to the contemporary doctrine of Pax Americanus, A host of garrisons in the Agean gave Athens a strategic advantage. With such mounting controversy, some states got cold feet. Naxos and Thalia withdrew from the Delian League, and Athens demanded their return under a serious threat of war. We ought to ask what would happen if some country left a modern pact like NATO. Hypothetically imagine that the Ukrainian government joined Russia, or there was some similar occurrence elsewhere. Concerns about the imminent growth of a rival empire would surely spark WW3. In the case of the Greeks, this conflict sparked the most violent war in their entire history, The Peloponnesian War. According to Thucydides "The growth of the power of Athens, and the alarm that this inspired in Sparta made war inevitable." Sparta was a state analogous to China, a rival of America with similar concerns about their rivals. Sparta and its allies in the newly formed Peloponnesian league invaded Athens in 431 BC.
During the war, the Athenians stuck to naval confrontation, their shared strength with America. In order to save their population, and prevent a defeat on land Pericles built a long wall connecting Athens proper to its powerful harbor and naval center. The Athenian strategy was to wait for the siege to be called off. The state welcomed every refugee that came near the city, but their plan had a serious flaw, They did not think of plagues. Such a plague broke out in 430 BC, killing 1/2-2/3 of the population, including Pericles. This tragedy was highly demoralizing, but the war continued. Today America also welcomes every refugee, and our cities are full. But the American plague is far more dangerous, it is a plague of rival ethical systems and tribal identities. This nation is welcoming people who would make the country their ethnostate in an instant if they had the numbers, and we are giving ourselves away to them. Can America survive a race war? Should we tempt it on the brink of WW3? It seems unwise.
Over time the war was locked in a stalemate. The divide between the strength of the states was too large, and neither could strike a decisive victory. This is also analogous to the current world situation, war, politics, and the dynamics of strategy have not changed. It is doubtful that either America or China could strike a decisive blow from across the pacific, the only sure thing is that it would be a long and bloody war. After ten years of stalemate and fighting a truce was struck in 421. For a time it seemed like politicians would exhibit learned behavior, but they had only gotten bored. The war started again with the disastrous Athenian expedition to Sicily. It all began when the Athenians became lustful for blood and empire. For a state one war is never enough, the assembly wanted to sacrifice its military for a new colony in Sicily. As in all democracies, mass psychosis and group pressure prevailed. An invasion of Sicily was prepared, but they underestimated the enemy. The following expedition ended in catastrophic failure, prompting the Spartans to break the uneasy peace.
This expedition illustrates a few important ideas about the condition of the democratic state. To begin with, the whole decision-making process of democracies is broken. The court of public opinion is not a court of justice, and neither can it make rational decisions without the ability to do a cost-benefit analysis. For example, the Athenian commander Niceas called for reinforcements when the Syracutions proved too much. The Assembly was hasty to comply, the costs of raising a second army were distributed and not specific to them. All democratic legislatures suffer from the drunkenness of public opinion, but they drown in sunk-cost fallacies. When an expedition is first declared all seems well, but nobody considers the real cost. When it begins to fail the politicians always fall for the fallacy. In their empire, much like America, political ventures have no costs, only sinking! The consequences are distributed and the voters unaccountable, the democratic state is like a kid in a candy shop with a platinum credit card.
The idea of rational Greeks is a myth, they were as human and as dead to reality as the rest of the world. Both in terms of their democratic tomfoolery and their pagan religion. The Athenian army was about to evacuate when they saw an eclipse. General Nicias listened to his seers and took this as an omen, but his mistake gave the enemy enough time to block the mouth of the harbor. All escape attempts failed. In the end, some 50,000 men from Athens and its allies were killed. Now speaking of wasteful specialization, America is no better. We still have pointless wars just like this one, but we do even stupider things yet. Social security, welfare, clean energy, and more, the 'expeditions' of congress are bleeding our country dry, but we suspect nothing of the sort.
As you might expect, the result of this expedition was political instability and infighting. Democracy is the citizen passing the buck to the best demagogues, and so you would expect the demagogues to do the same and point the finger rather than take the blame. A democracy is always at war with everything, Other states, its own citizens, other politicians, its laws, and finally nature itself. In the case of Athens, there was a series of coups and political putsches. For the part of statists, at least they are consistent, in foolishness that is. Sparta felt threatened by the imperial tendency of Athens, saw an opportunity, and took up arms once more. What the greeks never understood is where real power comes from, from spiritual and material consistency oriented towards the highest definite goals. Honest people know these goals are Christ and the wealth from the free market.
When they fought their foe Athens was routed in battle, but the war continued, only more sinking could bring them to the muck where they saw their highest glory. It was only with the Spartan victory in 404 BC that the Delian League was dissolved. With the defeat of an embarrassed Athens, Sparta briefly attempted to emulate them by establishing an empire. Statists never learn, will they? After the war, Athens had to submit to Sparta, more unneeded proof that might makes right and destroys great civilizations. The Spartans established naval power by granting Persian control over Ionia. Wheeling and dealing with your own people away for empire is usual fodder for states, even small ones. Meanwhile, the rule of the thirty spartan tyrants was in full effect in Athens. When America falls I wonder what our new warlords will look like? Perhaps they will be a la Man in the High Castle, or perhaps the very same Jews who rule us now. No matter what, it doesn't matter, they are all the same in the eyes of God. Eventually, they are overthrown. The least we can say of the common man is that he is resistant to tyranny, even subconsciously.
In the end, all empires must fall, and power swings on a seven-axis pendulum. In 371 BC spartan power was overthrown by Thebes. By the mid-fourth century, no one city-state was dominant. Politics and wars had exhausted the city-states. Again, the basic error of statism is to believe that power comes from military force, but military power is unstable and built on temporary advantages. The true power of nations comes from their consistency with reality. A nation that is oriented towards truth will have direction and movement towards the good. The first of the two key principles of power is personal transformation by the high spiritual order of Christ. The second comes from the open conduct of economic life, a function of population times cultural innovation plus the potential for free trade. Any nation built on these principles will prosper spiritually and economically. Wars destroy both the economy and civilization of a people. Rebellion against God and the choice to pursue military strength over the things which truly build a nation destroyed Athens, then destroyed the strength of all other greeks. The resulting weakness of the Greeks meant they would be ruled by the power of Macedonia and would never again enjoy the glory of their independence again.
We must recognize that wars are dick-measuring contests between states, but they do not build up a nation, they can only destroy a people who are already weak. The present situation of America is analogous to the greek situation after the Persian wars. The great eastern enemy has been defeated, the intervening wars have been waged, the alliances have been forged and the corruption sewn. Sooner or later there will be a conflict, but we know from history that humanity will only remember this coming war with shame. Conflict always rises from the united disunity of federations and the will to power. The solution is not to create one large state, but that is an argument for another day. What we must realize in order to thrive is that the world is already more united in Christ and the market than it ever was under a federation of states. In the future of this country, there are two paths, war, and tyranny, or peace and voluntarism. Of the two, I prefer the latter. Choose consistency, chose for the truth to set you free, not to be dead in slavery to rebellion.
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