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The John Adams Society

John P. Augustine

Chairman

William G. Carpenter

Secretary

Christopher T. Wolff

Chief Whip

Marina Wolff

Chancellor

 

March 16, 2022

Location in Exile: Rivertown Event Center, Hastings

 

“We shall not make a long speech which would not be believed; since you know as well as we do that right, as the world goes, is only in question between equals in power, while the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.”

—Athenian embassy to Melos, The Peloponnesian War

UKRAINE "ASPIRES" TO JOIN NATO, following Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Romania, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Albania, Montenegro, and North Macedonia. This would double the length of the NATO-Russian frontier. Whether or not the United States promised Russia that NATO would not expand, it was provocative to extend its boundaries with the Russian border and commence the process of adding Ukraine. We did it because we could.

Now Russia has crossed the Ukrainian border and intervened to (1) settle the civil war that followed the Orange Revolution of 2014, and (2) to preempt Ukraine’s NATO application. (Setting aside the economic calculus.) They did it because they could. Will China issue an ultimatum to Taiwan while everyone is looking the other way? Because it can? Will the Biden Administration continue the decades-long, bipartisan porous border policy to bring in new voters and cheap labor? And buy still more votes with its expanded asylum and refugee policies? Because it can? It was ever so, and always will be.

ON THE OTHER HAND, the prosperity of human societies requires peace, both internal and external, and peace requires respect for national sovereignty. Borders are the cornerstone of sovereignty. The existence of a discontented minority within another nation’s borders should not be an excuse to intervene, nor should internal political competition lead policymakers to import foreign foot-soldiers. Let us restore the borders of Ukraine and the United States. Let us preserve the borders of Taiwan. Let us be guided by reason and consent, not brute force.

 

THE CHAIRMAN, with his innate appreciation of law and order, has called a caucus of the Society to debate the following proposition:

RESOLVED: Borders are made to be broken.

 

The Debate will be held on Wednesday, March 16, 2022, at the Rivertown Event Center, 2103 Vermilion Street, Hastings, MN 55033.  Those heading south on Hwy. 61 should turn left onto 21st Street after the stoplight for CR46/47, then right into the parking lot behind O'Reilly Auto Parts, then proceed slowly until they see a two-story white stucco building with "Lodge Parking" signs.

The Chancellor and Chairman encourage participants to arrive before 7 o’clock p.m. to socialize and to bring food or drink they wish to share. This location does not serve alcohol, but persons of legal age may bring alcoholic beverages for consumption in moderation. The debate will begin at precisely half past seven.

Gentlemen who wish to speak must wear a tie, and ladies are asked to uphold a similar standard. For gentlemen arriving sans tie yet wishing to discourse on the resolution, the Purveyor of Ties will have on hand several from his remarkable collection. Questions regarding caucus procedures or about the John Adams Society may be directed to the Chairman at (651) 398-9316 or the Secretary at (612) 703-6021.

http://www.johnadamssociety.org