Why We Fight

Critics of Salvo often complain about our quasi-military language. “Why not adopt a more irenic tone?” they say. My reply is that we use these terms, albeit figuratively, to describe our engagement in the realm of ideas against an aggressor. Now, some people don’t fancy a fair fight. We do.

Salvo seeks to defend truths that have shaped the civilization that can best, if imperfectly, ensure freedom for man to flourish as he was meant to. Those last two words, “meant to,” are crucial. For we believe man has a given nature and purpose. In keeping with the Declaration of Independence, for example, we hold certain truths to be self-evident, because they are “in the nature of things” and not subjective “values.” These include certain inalienable rights that come from the Creator, not from the state.

Throughout history, the state—whether through monarchs, elected bodies, totalitarian dictators, or collectivizing tyrants—has often looked rapaciously on three targets in its quest to acquire more power: the individual, the family, and the local community. In modern times, the state has participated in a three-pronged attack against these targets with increasingly sophisticated siege-engines.

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