The Great Oak Forest

Bits of wisdom from August Ecklund's new blog:

I have had the opportunity to speak with many parents of soldiers fighting in Iraq. Often, the story is the same. Their children reenlist out of loyalty and a sense of responsibility to their fellow soldiers. They cannot bear the thought of allowing their colleagues to risk their lives alone, so they run off to kill and/or be killed. These men and women have honorable intentions, which is why they are perfect victims of the State. The true evil of the State is that it turns people’s virtues against them.

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Historically, forests, mountains, and other geographic boundaries protected small villages and cultures from incursion. These civilizations maintained their liberty through isolation. As I have grown older, I have begun to fear that finding isolation is the only way to gain liberty.