SACRAMENTO, CA - By now you have likely reached the saturation point with commentary on what it all means and the possible dimensions of the war to come. So we won’t add our thoughts on the terrorist attacks, which would be a mere echo of other well-spoken words.

It is our job at PRI to think seriously about public questions large and small, so even though the public understandably won’t be much captured by our research on urban sprawl or charter schools for a while, we do intend to carry on in the spirit of Churchill.

In June, 1940, at the most grim moment of World War II, the British ambassador to Switzerland cabled Churchill to inquire whether the embassy in Berne should cancel its social calendar. No, Churchill said; to the contrary, be “very gay and confident and have noisy parties.” Churchill made this advice general to all the British embassies around the world. In Madrid, the British embassy gave “the biggest cocktail party in a year.” At home, Churchill instructed everyone to conduct themselves in high spirits.

This is how PRI intends to carry on during this interregnum.

Beyond this, it is the duty of statesmen and citizens alike to think beyond the present moment to the aftermath. National crisis and war have always been the engine of the expansion of government. No one questions the necessity of powerful, energetic government when it comes to the defense of the homeland. Yet previous wars and crises have left government permanently expanded, as explained in Crisis and Leviathan, our 1988 book by Robert Higgs. These crises took place within a general intellectual and political climate that promoted the expansion of government anyway. For a long time we have been wondering what conditions might someday bring about the opposite: crisis and de-Leviathan. Might this time be different? It is too soon to tell.

It would be a lasting victory for terrorism if Americans have to endure a new expansion of bureaucratic government that permanently circumscribes their liberty. In the fullness of time, as we test whether attempts at comprehensive airline security are practical for 10,000 flights a day, we might want to deliberate about some non-bureaucratic measures, like arming the pilots, many of whom are military veterans and know how to use firearms. As Tom West remarked in a recent message, a pistol beats a box cutter or a knife any time.

One final reminder from Churchill: “Never maltreat your enemy by halves.”

Editor’s note: Steven Hayward was in Washington on his way to a meeting at the White House last Tuesday morning when the attack occurred.

--Steven Hayward