If You're In A Fight, Fight To Win.

Yesterday I posed the question why aren't we winning the war against Islam?  After all, against the greatest military in the world, they have no chance in an all-out confrontation.  Today that question is answered by way of a brilliant article in Breitbart by Steven Bannon and Alexander Marlow titled A Stark Choice:  Ted Cruz's Jacksonian Americanism vs.Marco Rubio's Wilsonian Internationalism. 

Wilsonian Internationalism

The answer to why we don't win can be answered in this way:  because we don't fight to win.  The current administration and ruling class are adherents of a political viewpoint - a philosophy - of Woodrow Wilson's brand of progressivism.  It calls for doing the right thing without regard to any other concern, especially patriotic nationalism.  Of course, defining what is "right" is highly subjective. So in the Wilsonian view, wars are conducted to improve the world, and actually winning them, or concern for national interest or pride is secondary.  Rather than just completely wiping out an enemy, Wilsonianism requires that we must change their hearts and minds so that they are better able to work harmoniously in the international community. In the last seven years we've seen the fallacy in that.  Wilsonians feel they are intellectually superior, and they eschew such low-brow concepts as national pride, preferring instead to be considered citizens of the world. Rubio is a Wilsonian.

Jacksonian Nationalism

The opposing view, Jackonianism, is a form of nationalism found in Andrew Jackson's attitude toward his enemies.  As president, he beat the Indians, defeated the British and expanded United States territories which was the foundation of the US eventually becoming a world super power.  With respect to war, the view is that we simply vanquish the enemy, because it's in the United States' best interests to do so.  We saw this philosophy to war fighting in WWII, especially in the final days of the conflict in both the European and Pacific Theaters, and again decades later with the famous Powell Doctrine that General Norman Schwarzkopf administered in the liberation of Kuwait.  The devastation was complete and overwhelming. Jackonianism is less an intellectual or political movement than an expression of the social, cultural and religious values of the majority of the American public.  To Jacksonians, the bond to and protection of kith and kin and nation, is primary to other considerations.  And they fight to win.  Cruz is a Jacksonian.

No wonder so many Americans are confused by seemingly conservative candidates so stridently in favor of such non conservative issues as immigration and foreign interventionism.  The matter can be summed up in this way.  American politics has transcended from simply a Republican vs Democrat, or liberal vs conservative, or even a left vs right narrative.   Policies and issues are now woven into the fabric of global concerns. One side asks, "Is it the right thing to do?"  The other side asks, "Is it the best thing for us to do?"

In history and human events, the pendulum always swings from one side to the other.  Even though they may not understand the nuances of the prevailing philosophies, Americans know they're tired of neoconservatives of both parties involving us in costly policies and unwinnable wars.  And it's why the simple and straight forward ideas put forth by both Ted Cruz and Donald Trump are resounding so well with American voters.

As my daddy used to say, "Never get in a fight.  But if you're in a fight, fight to win."  Sage advice, Dad.