Reflection of the political

I want to start by noting that at the end of class, as Professor Jackson alludes to, I was not suggesting Schmitt somehow embraces Wilsonian liberalism. I simply thought it was unfair that we left the class on the rather disheartening quote which seems to admit defeat quote "A war waged to protect or expand economic power economic power must, with the aid of propaganda, turn into a crusade and into the last war of humanity." When, in fact, the piece ends with a statement of certain victory (victory for the author and the concept of the political). While I will allow that it could be an intellectual tip o' the hat to Nietzsche I think it must also be read as an admission that the ideal he outlines in the piece (and elsewhere) is simple a personal preference in the name of efficiency as opposed to some sort of philosophical law. I am especially appreciative of this comment as it gives an out to people like myself who agree with his definitions of the concept of the political, but who do not aspire to the totalitarian/fascist conclusions he reached as a result.

Sarah points to another rather brilliant remark. On 79 Schmitt seems to perfectly predict the shifting language of US war propaganda. I wonder, however, if Schmitt would be more critical of leadership that places war on the friend foe terms or if he would be more critical of a society and a people who refuse to accept War on traditional terms--So much so that if we discover the initially established friend v. foe terms were falsified (No WMDs in Iraq for example) we quickly lose our patience for any violence. I think there is another interesting storyline in our continued love of the Death Penalty, Schmitt points out executions are permitted within his understanding of how liberalism works, but many liberal societies (including many liberal states) do not permit executions. This calls me to question Schimmit's conclusions that liberalism can not bring an end to war. I contend that true liberalism goes one step further, and that the Friend Foe we are currently fighting is actually a result of the half-committed portion of society that still likes fighting foes and executing criminals.