For most of history, men fought for the man who fed them, the god who judged them, or the land they could see from the hilltop. Loyalty was personal, war was local, and victory meant cattle, slaves, or a better grave.
The nation-state changed the rules. It wrapped the flag around every shoulder, taxed every hearth, and turned ploughshares into bayonets on an industrial scale. What began as a banner became a balance sheet: conscription, war bonds, inflation, and the promise that this time the sacrifice would be worth it.
This article traces the leap – from tribal spear to total war.
🏛 The Rise of the “Psychotic Nanny” State
The “psychotic nanny” perfectly captures the modern state’s dual role: it promises protection and unity while simultaneously creating the conditions that make its wars possible.
From Subjects to Citizens-Soldiers: The rise of the nation-state saw the demand on society increase dramatically. The state consolidated its power by replacing local and familial identities with a new, overarching nationalism. The flag became the sacred symbol of this unity.
The Mechanism of Conscription: This new identity was enforced with the introduction of conscription, a blatant erosion of individual liberty that forced young males to fight in the state’s wars. As the libertarian analysis notes, “a war between rulers was converted into a war between peoples,” who came to defend their rulers under the mistaken belief that the rulers were defending them. This is the “psychotic” bargain: the state creates a need for security and then demands the ultimate sacrifice to provide it.
💰 The Sordid Economics of Modern War
War has been transformed from an adventure for plunder into a systematic, economically-driven enterprise.
Financing the Machine: Modern wars are astronomically expensive. The 20th-century world wars were key moments where states acquired new powers, including money printing to finance armies, a power they had never had previously. This direct link between state power, currency creation, and war financing is a primary cause of debasement.
The Soldier vs. The Warrior: This system creates the “soldier who is paid,” as distinguished from the “warrior.” For the disadvantaged, the military offers pay, advancement, and social credibility – solutions to the very needs the state has failed to meet in peace time. The aspiring officer class, similarly, is offered status and influence. This makes “killing for coin” not only attractive but essential for social mobility within a system that has defaulted on its broader responsibilities.
🎭 Manufacturing Consent: Fear, Hatred, and Media
A state that cannot convince its people to fight cannot wage modern war. This is where manufactured fears and the mainstream media become essential.
Exploiting Failure: The state and its allied interests exploit failures in education and infrastructure that they have, by default, created. A population that is uneducated, disconnected, and seeking identity is uniquely vulnerable to narratives of nationalism and external threats.
The Role of the Media: The mainstream media, often operating in a symbiotic relationship with state power, contributes to perceptions of what is permitted in war by framing conflicts in terms that serve state objectives. This was evident in the Vietnam War, where the “domino theory” – the idea that if one nation fell to communism, others would follow – was used to justify escalation. Similarly, the Iraq War was sold on the false claims of weapons of mass destruction and links to terrorist groups, claims that were later proved erroneous. In the Gaza conflict, competing narratives immediately arose, with each side using media to justify its actions and frame the conflict for international audiences.
✌ The Path to a Deeper Peace
Understanding this architecture is the first step toward dismantling it. The path forward must be based on a radical rethinking of our institutions.
Checking Unchecked Power: The analysis of modern war points to unchecked power as a primary cause. Peace is preserved when institutions check the power of autocrats and leaders, making them accountable for the costs of war.
Beyond the Nation-State: The libertarian argument suggests that the world should have as many political units as possible, making each one militarily weak and surrounded by neighbors of similar size, a structure where total war becomes impossible.
The Primacy of Stewardship: Ultimately, we must champion the model of the steward over the soldier. The vision of an “Ecological Civilisation,” where every human is encouraged to see themselves as a steward of their community and planet, is the antithesis of the state’s “psychotic nanny.” It replaces extraction with nurture, and ideological domination with a lived, practical love for one’s home and neighbours.
This is the nature of the war machine we are up against… It is a system that has perfected the art of convincing people to die for a abstraction that has replaced their family, all while enriching the bankers and power-brokers you rightly warn must be kept from decision-making.
Our young must see this clearly. They must understand that the flag-waving and nationalist fervour are tools to mask a vulgar and contemptible system. Only then can we build a world where the warrior spirit is channeled into stewardship, and where the only wars fought are in defense of a genuinely loved community, not the interests of a distant state.
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Strange isn’t it, that todays ally was yesterdays enemy and so it goes on and on and on.
Have enjoyed your series immensely Andrew.
Read “War Is A Racket”, by General Smedley D. Butler, USMC; first published 90 years ago. He knew what it was about, because he had a part in it.
https://ratical.org/ratville/CAH/warisaracket.pdf