War: Big Government's Best Friend

Bestselling author Tom Woods speaks at the Mises Institute's seminar at Furman University, "War: Big Government's Best Friend." Sponsored by the Conservative Students for a Better Tomorrow. www.TomWoods.com furmancsbt.org/default.aspx

[@KeithKnightDontTreadonAnyone]

Tom Woods is absolutely brilliant. Lets start a mass campaign to Tweet and Tag Hannity and O'Reilly with 'Who is Tom Woods?'

[@pakasack]

This is one of the best things on KZbin, bar none.

[@hob976]

Tom Woods is ON FIRE..!!! Hard to believe he's still getting better. . People reading this should find his older speaking event podcasts... They're amazing.

[@RuFFRyDas87]

You the man Woods!!! Wooooooo!

[@mrsha007]

I can listen to Tom Woods talk all day.

[@billybagbom]

An intellectually honest man. Rare.

[@ReadingAdam]

Definitely one of Dr. Wood's best speeches.

[@robzrob]

Mr Woods is always good, but this is the best thing he's ever done. Bless him. Onward and upward Mr W!!

[@Thenuminator24]

Best speech ever

[@JNJ1014]

Tom Woods is an intellectual giant and a true humanitarian.

[@PeterSodhi]

In 250,000 years of Human History this stands out as one of Humanity's great artifacts. Honoured to be able to watch it, thank you.

[@hob976]

I swear, if you look for a podcast of his, called "Not Guilty As Charged", you'll hear one of the best hours of Tom Woods EVER. You won't be disappointed.

[@sharkhearted1]

Tom Woods is the man.

[@fbda5555]

This was a great speech, by one of the brightest thinkers...

[@Astra2012]

Tom Woods is wonderful! so bright and honest. I'm sure FBI won't take it for long!

[@dutty1974]

You are awesome, Tom... you are changing my neo-con Catholic family bit by bit.

[@FriteVerte]

This is so much better than gaming or watching movies! Your not only a great teacher, but an awesome source of entertainment!

[@kreteman777]

I am looking forward to Tom Woods running for president!

[@AndyFL64]

All the goings on lately with Russia and the Ukraine, I decided to watch this video again. By far, this is one of the most impactful videos I have seen to date on KZbin.

[@mikedunn9310]

Tom Woods in incredible.

[@damonthemoney93]

I don't even need to see a video with Tom Woods to click the like button ;)

[@fthapolice1]

Bravo. This explains my journey better than I could.

[@jek4prez2032]

I'm SOOOOO sick of my history teacher telling my class WWII got us out of the great depression. I'm definitely checking out that video...

[@JarrettTilford]

Terrifically intelligent man.

[@ripkej77]

WOW TOM ! Nice speech! TOM FOR PREZ!

[@Devin82m]

A beautiful speech, I loved it! I could only hope to be so well researched and articulate in front of crowds as Dr. Woods is.

[@billybagbom]

Ron Paul couldn't have a better friend than this man. I relate to his journey. I also was once a neocon dupe. I also am now a Ron Paul supporter.

[@entelin]

wow that was fantastic, the perfect balance between substance, humour, and flare. Good job!

[@rockhuddy]

Alright, another full length lecture! I've watched your others several times each, I'm sure I'll do the same for this one.

[@caressjohnson]

Amazing!

[@jubjub2112]

Brilliant!! Aside from Woods having attended Harvard (mine was a somewhat less renowned university), his experience was very similar to my own. It is no coincidence that when we are young, we are recruited . . . by the military, by politicians, and by propagandists. This is precisely why the programming we have all been subjected to starts from the moment of our first breath, so as to be integral to our very nature. So glad to have woken from this slumber

[@smujismuj]

Notwithstanding the reinforcement of the 'left/right' nonsense, this is good stuff.

[@shovelarchive7167]

Still the best speech on KZbin

[@shovelarchive7167]

I come back to it regularly

[@ericlebo]

@smmclaug75 That is not exactly what I meant but close enough. I do think however the fact that Ron Paul doesn't have to re-event himself every couple of years is why I think he is right on. The fact that the things he has been saying for the past 40 years can't be argued with. Which is why the mainstream establishment tries so hard to silence him.

[@facher83]

Oh my goodness! My heart stopped when Tom was quoting Mises on national superiority complexes (18:50). I have a book with that quote on my bookshelf lol

[@mmedefarge]

I didn't say that all ambitious people were sociopaths, I said that sociopaths are well represented in the higher echelons of the business world & politics precisely because they are so unremittingly ruthless. There are ethical business leaders (Warren Buffett, for example) just as there are ethical lawyers but neither of these two occupations lend themselves easily to "ethics".

[@hob976]

Love Rothbard (Mises Institute sells my statue of him). And I've listened to EVERY Joe Rogan podcast from the beginning! I think his interview with Shane Smith is the most interesting hour of listening on the freeking internet... And I think the earliest Duncan Trussell episodes were the best. Trussell once had a great idea about reprogramming prisoners in an egg that I thought about for days...

[@TrippingTheTube]

I was the same way years back. The reasons: A. I wasn't really political interested. So I didn't really think about it much. B. I knew I wasn't a leftist. But what woke me up and made me political was not Obama, but when I began thinking Bush was destroying the country And then I was introduced to Ron Paul in 2007.

[@smmclaug75]

@ericlebo I value consistency and principle as much as the next man, and Paul has both going for him. Those are good qualities. The problem comes when you're dealing with the reality of democratic politics--it's not enough to repeat yourself endlessly. You have to find interesting and effective ways of advancing your ideas, and you have to win. I'm suggesting that if Paul was going to be a winner on a national scale, we'd know by now. It's a vintage wine in need of a new bottle.

[@edwaggonersr.7446]

Why is this You Tube video an excuse for nutty atheists to load up the thread with their drivel? Tom that was an amazing talk, thank you so much.

[@angelantoniomingotebarrach3339]

Ed Waggoner Sr., you're confused, liberals and collectivists are not atheists. They have a religion and a god, the State/Society.

[@tirthapaddas141]

Great speech. One of my favorite speakers. Still, the question of the spiritual viewpoint comes up: How is "The environment is favorable" paradigm arise? Wars are collective karmas on individuals residing in the wrong place at the wrong time. Each individual has his own karmic reaction to live out, and without God in the center we will misunderstand the role of freedom. From the moral and economic standard, I am anti-war. But from the spiritual side, war is an inevitability. We are no longer fighting for freedom. granted, so we have to understand our real goal is love of God, not our bodies, minds or nations. Without understanding how to transcend this outlook, then we or I will be stuck in this limbo.

[@leomeyer11]

now i see why mark levin did not want to debate tom woods on the war issue!

[@FriteVerte]

lol, the iPod sound made me check my notifications >

[@ericlebo]

@BusterXXXL Ron Paul 2016 Really ? Can't the guy retire? I am sure the guy is proud of the number of young people he has inspired. But I think we got to come to the reality that he might want to retire someday. That we need to rise up and encourage more people to follow the path that he leaves behind and to continue speaking out in the name of liberty.

[@erikmorgan8800]

I like living in America, and thankful we live in a "free country", but I don't think of myself as better or above people from less fortunate countries. If anything I feel bad for those people, because chances are, it's their very own government making it's citizens poor.

[@Ligeti43]

I used to be a big Levin fan, now pretty much just support his promotion of Liberty as I would anyone else. His online back & forth debate with Woods was telling, Woods cited stuff from Levin & disputed it. But Levin just attacked Woods w/o links to citations or anything. An actual debate between these two would be awesome. Woods should push it if he's challenged by Levin on something again. Levin always talking about wanting to debate so & so and will crush them blah blah. Well, bring it on!!!

[@mmedefarge]

to Midcal9 Sociopaths often climb to the heights in both business & gov't precisely because they are so ruthless & are often charismatic. Pres. Eisenhower warned of the collusion of gov't with business in an "military-industrial complex & that is exactly what has happened. In the U.S., corporations have taken over the gov't. That is why we are in so many wars both overt & covert; war is very lucrative. Expect to see more.

[@mmedefarge]

Did you not listen to him at the beginning of the video, "war was like a video game I could enjoy from home", "the suffering & degradation of war was quite beside the point", on & on. He was only about 20 yrs. late on the empathy scale which most of us start to develop around age 3. To him, it's all academic, just as it is with any sociopath, never developing any real feeling or connection with another's suffering.

[@HieronymousAnonymous]

I admire Tom Woods - if anything I am MORE anti-State than he is (I was personally invited in 1996 to the Mont Pelerin Society meeting), and I **LIVE** Rothbard's "Do You Hate the State" to my personal cost... as Socrates said, it is better to suffer than to do evil. But seriously, if you want TRULY amazing podcasts, you want Joe Rogan when Duncan Trussell is on. It will re-wire your brain.

[@keeper06es]

@steam0001 Just out of curiosity, who do you mean by "the vulnerable"?

[@qwetuelements3021]

Listen-Suzzy Em feat Davy Barbz (OFFICIAL HD video).mp4

[@rhrabar0004]

28 mark gold

[@christo930]

@megatherium100 No, I pointed out a single mistake that Dr Woods, a historian, knows about. I am not justifying any position for war against anyone. I was 21 when that war happened and I was against it then as I am now. At that time, all men over 18 had to register for the draft and I was ready to go to Canada rather than fight that senseless war, had the draft been activated.

[@GordonHilgers]

Chile's government was quite small, but with the help of advocates of the free market, still managed to "disappear" three million people. Maybe they've been hidden up Ludwig's wazoo. Who knows?

[@steam0001]

Good speech with a lot of good points that make me think but I still have concerns about libertarianism. Things like defending the rights of the vulnerable & the like.

[@smmclaug75]

@ericlebo I'm not a libertarian, but I think I can safely interject here and agree with you. If people who want a smaller government, smaller foreign military commitments, and lower toal burden on the taxpayer by government really want to make any political headway, they need to find someone with actual charisma, not an old man who has literally been repeating the same five slogans since the 70's. Time to focus attention on getting a viable leader.

[@TomWoodsTV]

@christo930 So you're saying it's plausible to believe the huge throngs of Iraqi wounded, facing the massive Kuwaiti army, needed to make room for their soldiers?

[@arcanekrusader]

@BusterXXXL What's a protective society?

[@Ligeti43]

Oh, and this unremitting "ruthlessness" in business is the reason you enjoy certain things. Why wouldn't you want someone in business to be like that? Historically, the best run business and product will prevail if left alone. I'm talking about ruthlessness limited to the business world. Not with government help or anything else. Walmart can't put a gun to your head to shop there and not at Target, Kohl's, Meijer, etc. The govt can make you comply with threat of force and imprisonment.

[@miazagora]

Who would "dislike" this? Rick Santorum...is that you?

[@hob976]

Big talk buddy, If he sprayed ME, I'd review his products poorly and leave him negative (though constructive) feedback about his character to drive down demand for his products in the open market. He'd respond to market intensives and adjust his behavior to be more lucrative... REPRESENT!

[@BusterXXXL]

Ron Paul 2016

[@BusterXXXL]

@arcanekrusader A society, that has institutionalized safe-guards for the weak, the frail, and victims of bad fate.

[@mikedunn9310]

Dang it! It only lets me give 1 thumbs up.

[@billybagbom]

Probably much less dangerous, in fact!

[@HUJUism]

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.

[@UTubekookdetector]

I can relate to Tom's former neoconservatism. Thanks to many of the guys at Cato & Ron Paul, I realized several years ago (it was a long, slow road) that neoconservatism and a "do something right now" foreign policy is not only unconstitional, but it's very, very costly (this is not just money-related) & ineffective. Barack Hussein Obama's foreign policy is almost a carbon-copy of G.W. Bush's.

[@efrem1]

War, it's what's for dinner. We have been fooled for so long.

[@ThingWhatKicks]

Tom did a series of videos discussing the Church's influence on Western civilization. Watch them, you might learn something. At any rate, you had better get used to Christian anarchists. We are not stupid or evil or irrational. And we are not going anywhere.

[@ericlebo]

@smmclaug75 That is what is pretty much whats wrong with politics today. The American voter put more thought in voting for American Idle then they do for political candidates. "Oh I like the way he speaks." "Oh he looks like a nice guy." "He's good looking." Like those things really matter. One thing is sure. We are all so addicted to big government one way or another that the voters will never support someone who questions the size of government not to mention cut it.

[@tiffanydavidson959]

Indeed. Medical care is the 3rd leading cause of death in America. The numbers from democide are certainly gigantic.

[@billybagbom]

Plus, y'know what makes this man even more dangerous? He's FOR REAL! This guy is so bright and well educated, he should be illegal. But he obviously has no idea how valuable an intellectual commodity he is (or, better yet, doesn't care), because he has no problem telling the world how he "lost all the weight"! He has all kinds of intellectual "cred," but doesn't have too much sense of self-importance to do an "infomercial." But when you get to know the guy, you realize HE WANTS TO HELP PEOPLE!

[@HieronymousAnonymous]

Not in the least: I *have* read Marx; I *have* read a variety of Catholic apologias; I *have* read Keynes and Krugman-on-Keynes. (In the same way: I *have* read Rand... it's vapid salon--faux-intellectual dross). I read Keynes/ Krug-Keynes and Marx as part of mt economics degree (I got a High Distinction for "Comparative Eco Systems", and graduated summa cum laude, thanks for asking). Reading partisan presentations of internally-inconsistent drivel does not arm you to critique it.

[@smmclaug75]

@jokertim777 I don't think I'm being silly when I predict that Paul will get crushed on the final delegate count, and I think you know that. Obviously no delegates have been determined yet, but I'm not being silly when I say that the guy running third behind SANTORUM of all people isn't about to make a big sweep. Incidentally, I don't watch television.

[@PbDeth]

@MooseOfReason Because the US government at that time wanted to make a push towards the League of Nations and were judging how other countries felt about that. But if that's not good enough, I guess it's up to you now to pull up the commission documents themselves, read them, analyze them - and look for any other evidence that may discredit this commission. When you write that article (or book), link it to me please!

[@HieronymousAnonymous]

I should add... the Mont Pelerin Society invite was on letterhead and arrived in the post at my University office... it was not a fucking e-mail. Mass e-mail invites didn't exist back then! As to personal cost: does rejecting overtures from the country's Central Bank to come work for them count? (I was one of 4 undergraduates asked by the Reserve Bank of Australia to come work for them in 1994: told them - politely - to fuck off).

[@PbDeth]

@MooseOfReason It also proves his point. He was trying to show that the US had a more favorable opinion in the world - as compared to now. There's more than one way to skin a cat.

[@smmclaug75]

@modernfreestyle "Would I pay the cost of war willingly? No. Did we benefit from it? Yes." Let's just say that premise is true, and the internet was a government spinoff. You assume that the market would never have produced that on its own, or that it would have done so with no more waste, inefficiency, destruction of resources, and loss of life than was expended through war spending. But there's no reason to assume that and plenty of reasons to assume otherwise.

[@christo930]

@madtrade Well, I am glad the august historian random commenter has made the statement that babies were never killed in a war, even deliberately. When the Nazi's invaded Poland, where do you think their injured were taken? Guess what kind of children were removed to make room for the wounded soldiers?

[@rubbersole79]

Why intervene in Yemen & Libya, but not Syria? I'd like to know.

[@smmclaug75]

@utubehayter Uhh...what the heck is that supposed to mean? Wait, don't tell me, I already know--it means that humorless, truculent, self-satisfied people can't stand a little friendly advice from somebody who's not even hostile to their goals, because after all, they could never be wrong about anything, ever.

[@smmclaug75]

@ericlebo It's been that way for a long time, unfortunately. Look at the grounds on which Lincoln's opponents attacked him--for his looks, his manner of speaking, etc. (I know Lincoln isn't necessarily a hero in these parts, I'm just using him as an example.) That was true when people got their information from yellow sheets, and it's true now in the TV-Internet era. It's just a feature of democratic government, and a lousy one--it could never be otherwise.

[@christo930]

@tewj57 What exactly do you think happened to the Jewish babies that were in the hospital when the SS started rounding up Jews (and others)? I'll tell you what happened, babies were removed from the hospital to make room for injured German soldiers, and yes, babies were killed.

[@tewj57]

@christo930 Babies in incubators, in hospitals. That's the point in the video.

[@smmclaug75]

@modernfreestyle Fine you didn't consciously make those assumptions, but that's not the point. The point is the fact the internet may have been a government spinoff does not mean that the war spending was a net gain to society, and it doesn't mean we would not have had the internet anyway, without all the costs. It's like bulldozing a mansion and putting up a 1-bedroom apartment in its place, and defending it on the grounds that, hey, we got an apartment, so it's a benefit!

[@RKAddict101]

@miazagora Rick Santorum has better things to do on the internet than find a youtube video of Tom Woods' and dislike it. He's busy trying to get Google to get rid of the link to Spreading Santorum.

[@aretlev]

It's okay, a decent amount of libertarians were former Rush Limbaughlians.

[@ThingWhatKicks]

On the off chance that you are actually serious here, how do you explain the existence of Woods, Paul, Murphy, et al.?

[@smmclaug75]

@ericlebo What's so "typically modern" is attacking somebody in those sweeping terms, leaping to judgments about his "obsessions" on the basis of one purely practical observation about political strategy in a KZbin comment section. I have no interest in fashion and appeal for its own sake, but the election of the last president brings home how important they are as political devices. Recognizing that reality doesn't amount to an ENDORSEMENT of that reality.

[@HieronymousAnonymous]

(part 2). I do not feel obliged to extend 'charity' to people who hew to an organisation which would, if it still had the power, condemn people like me to death by burning (Giordano Bruno, anyone?). Likewise, I have no charitable impulses towards people who think that their collective votes give them the power to steal my production and call it 'tax'. I will 'catch and release' a fly rather than kill it, but I wish fiery death to paradigms that want to encroach upon my liberty. Always have.

[@smmclaug75]

@modernfreestyle The fact you'd rather get huffy about tertiary issues like what assumptions did or did not underlie your argument rather than just addressing the actual substance of my point--even after I conceded the point already for the sake of argument--indicates to me you know my actual, substantive point is correct. I don't care what assumptions you made, and neither you, really. You'd just as soon act indignant instead of addressing the point at hand. You ARE done.

[@grraadd]

19:30 just like people wearing CocaCola caps and Adidas track suits... hiding under the logo.

[@HieronymousAnonymous]

(part 3 - last bit, I promise). That's why I despised that half-wit Hitchens, despite him being 'on my side' on the religion issue. Fact is, he would have changed his spots if someone made him the right offer, just as he did in turning to the US Right: he had the prospect of being a 'celebrity [pseudo-]thinker' in the US when he was an abject, 3rd Class 'also-ran' in the UK (literally - he got an H3 at Balliol. I got a [non-Balliol] First). I'm a purist, you see. "Rationality in all things".

[@christo930]

It's not efficient to kill people behind the front line? That is exactly what the Nazi's did in Poland and in the Soviet Union. Did it happen in Kuwait, probably not, but the thought that it was impossible or "not efficient" and therefor nobody would do it, is short sighted at best.

[@jokertim777]

@smmclaug75, I misunderstood your statement. I didn't realize you had made up your very own delegate count and were passing it off as something definitive... my bad. Since you have this Presidential race all figured out, why not declare the winner and save the remaining State Parties the hassle and expense of finishing the contest? This whole idea of letting people decide for themselves is such a bore, don't you think? Incidentally, I don't believe you.

[@jokertim777]

@smmclaug75, No, you might recall you mentioned a "delegate count," and that's what I took issue with specifically. Your predictions are only "obviously solid" to you. Notice I didn't say "you people" because that too would have made me sound silly. If you take offense to the truth, that's your choice. I didn't realize honesty had become juvenile. I'm not sure, are you're trying to feign nonchalance, or are you actually tired from a long day of "obviously solid" predicting?

[@smmclaug75]

@libertybelle2008 Right, because it's so much better to just lose elections over and over, never get anywhere, and at least say you stayed loyal to your man. Look, it shouldn't be about one man, and the truth is Paul is never going to get you where you want to go. Look at the delegate count, for God's sake. You need a new face, that much is obvious. R's and D's don't nominate the same guy every 4 years. His message might be true but if nobody hears it, so what?

[@ThingWhatKicks]

Oh, the hubris. Go away.

[@ornihr]

I recommend to you the short video of Milton Friedman on Chile. Capitalism is not a sufficient condition for freedom but a necessary condition for freedom. /watch?v=dzgMNLtLJ2k

[@ericlebo]

@smmclaug75 " It's a vintage wine in need of a new bottle." Typical modern American obsessed with fashion and appeal. The old bottle is fine just the way it is. The bottle has nothing to do with the content inside.