Lanterna Rally

Author: Henry C. Emery

Publisher: Forgotten Books

Published: 2015-06-25

Total Pages: 30

ISBN-13: 9781330371725

Excerpt from Some Economic Aspects of War: A Lecture Delivered Before the Army War College at Washington, D. C., April 11, 1913 This letter, which I present with much misgiving, is the result of a brief conversation which I had with Col. Greble, Capt. McCoy, and a few others one afternoon last fall when I happened to come upon them in the midst of a military discussion. Some joking remarks were made on the assumption that, as a political economist, I would be, naturally, oppose to any program for an increased military organization, which was the topic of conversation. To justify myself in such company, I began to give some of the economic arguments in favor of a strong military organization, and some days afterwards I was invited by Gen. Wood to address the officers of the military college. I was so flattered by the invitation that I accepted without much thought, and now feel much embarrassed at having done so. It is hardly possible that there is any problem regarding war or military armaments with which you are not much more familiar than I am myself, and I am not here this morning with any idea that I can tell you anything new. On the other hand, I try to justify myself for taking your time in this way because it is often interesting to have familiar facts approached from a different angle, and to have one's own ideas in some measure supported by an outsider, who can not be charged with any personal or professional prejudice in his expression of views. I shall start far from the immediate subject by suggesting to you that, disregarding the theories of individual philosophers, there are three, and only three, general theories of society, or theories of historical development, which have been held in modern times by large numbers of men and which have directly influenced the policies of nations. These I shall call individualism, socialism, and nationalism. To the individualist the activities of the present day and the whole course of history are to be interpreted as a struggle between individuals, each seeking his own welfare under the guidance of enlightened self-interest. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.