Well, I got it from Jake, and I don't know where he got it, but:
On April 20, 1795, James Madison, who had just helped shepherd through the
Constitution and Bill of Rights, and would become President of the United
States in the following decade, wrote:
"Of all the enemies to public liberty war is, perhaps, the most to be
dreaded because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is
the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes. And armies, and
debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under the
domination of the few."
"In war, too, the discretionary power of the Executive is extended. Its
influence in dealing out offices, honors, and emoluments is multiplied;
and all the means of seducing the minds, are added to those of subduing
the force of the people. The same malignant aspect in republicanism may be
traced in the inequality of fortunes, and the opportunities of fraud,
growing out of a state of war...and in the degeneracy of manners and
morals, engendered by both. No nation could preserve its freedom in the
midst of continual warfare."
//The Magic 8-Ball says, "Sigh."\\
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