Public Service Is a Noble Calling, Some Say
By Robert Higgs • Friday January 28, 2011 8:26 PM PDT • 33 Comments
Texas A&M University, which is a more or less legitimate institution of higher education, harbors something called The Bush School of Government and Public Service. Don’t laugh; it’s true. Today, one of my Facebook friends posted a publicity photo, which I take to be part of the school’s efforts either to attract students or to entice donors. Whatever the photo’s specific purpose may be, it had a profound effect on me. In fact, ever since I saw it, I have had a feeling of absolute emptiness at the very core of my being.
I confess that all such pictures disturb me. The carefully calibrated assortment of bright-eyed, sweetly smiling youngsters, selected to exhibit the officially sanctioned distribution according to race, sex, and ethnicity – you know, the distribution you’d not expect to find spontaneously on display if you simply walked into a campus cafeteria or dormitory unannounced – always stops me in my tracks, as if a well-intentioned left-liberal had just poked me in both eyes.
But let us not indict these naïve young models. Being young, they know not what they do. (Back in 1961, at age 17, I was similarly clueless when I was sworn into service in the U.S. Coast Guard.) Let us instead indict the message that appears in the forefront of the photo in large, bold, black capital letters: “Public Service Is a Noble Calling.” A photo and caption on the “About” page of the school’s website suggests that these words were uttered by the selfsame former president of the United States for whom the school under discussion is named, George Herbert Walker Bush. Remember him?
A stalwart fellow he was. At one time the Director of Central Intelligence (that is to say, the head of the Central Intelligence Agency) in the Ford administration, his finest public moment found him declaring to the world in no uncertain terms, “This will not stand, this aggression against Kuwait.” And what decent U.S. leader would have let stand the Iraqis’ attempt to lay hands on the oil that Kuwait’s billionaire sheiks had been stealing from underneath Iraqi territory by means of diagonal drilling?
Among the Bush School’s degree programs is a Masters Program in International Affairs. What training the students in this program must receive, all in the butt-kicking tradition of George H. W. Bush himself, a man celebrated for not letting a two-bit dispute between despicable Arab tyrants pass by, when he could exploit the occasion to launch a senseless war in which thousands of Iraqi draftees were blown to smithereens by B-52 bombardments or buried alive in their trenches by U.S. military bulldozers. It was the most splendid little war since the Spanish-American War, without a doubt.
Except, perhaps, for the fact that the U.S. military undertook as part of the fun and games to destroy the water supply and sewerage systems (and the electrical supply system needed to operate them) in Iraq, then to restrict or block for more than a decade the importation of essential materials for restoring these critical public-health facilities, with the ultimate result that hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, the great majority of them infants and little kids, died from diseases transmitted by contaminated water. Oh, well, as Ambassador Halfbright famously intoned, the U.S. government considered these children’s deaths “worth it.” So no one should be surprised if the well-scrubbed graduates of the Bush School emerge from their training prepared to slaughter millions of innocents, in the event that some future president’s pleasure or caprice requires such service on their part.
It’s difficult to say “Bush School of Government and Public Service” aloud without gagging. When I first espied that publicity photo earlier today, my immediate reaction was to post a comment: “These people will be serving the public only in the sense that the bull will be serving the cow.” That quick comment, however, like most instant reactions, failed to express the true enormity of what the Bush School’s graduates may end up doing. Yes, of course, most of them, if they remain in government “service” at all, will be mere flunkies for a fifth-level time-server or a third-rate political appointee. Yet it is not beyond imagination that some of them ultimately will rise to occupy positions in which they will have at their disposal the means of wreaking substantial death and destruction. Having been trained to accept the workaday character of doing evil deeds, in the reputational shadow of a man renowned for doing evil deeds at the highest level, they may be expected to do their “duty.”
Tags: Defense, Education, Imperialism, Iraq, Military, Morality, Peace, Power, Presidential Power, The State, Uncategorized, War 
Very funny post, Robert. I just about fell off my chair when I got to “Halfbright”! Goodness’ sakes, man, I’m STILL laughing!
Well received. I agree with your assessment of the Bush dyNASTY. I also agree with your chafing at the politically correct photo.
I wonder if that particular photo is part of the class of advertising wherein the race mix you note is actually required by law... some advertising does require it, you know. I just wonder if that’s one of those categories.
LawrenceD | Jan 29, 2011 | Reply
I didn’t think it was funny – because, unfortunately, it’s all true. And that’s tragic, not funny.
Robert, I always appreciate your insight. And, when you do so, I appreciate the humor you inject into many of your articles. Thank you very much. Please keep it up.
steven | Jan 29, 2011 | Reply
Americans fervently worship violence as the solution to all social ills. They believe it has redemptive power.
So don’t concern yourself with dead middle-eastern children. Their deaths have been sanctified.
Anon | Jan 29, 2011 | Reply
Not only is it noble it appears from looking back on the last 150 years to have been damned profitable also. We do not require nobility from our public servants,it is INTEGRITY!
derfel cadarn | Jan 29, 2011 | Reply
These threads are starting to wear thin on me. I have enormous respect for Professor Higgs, but I’m growing weary of the rhetoric. One of the things tha’s really wearing thin is the Libertarian notion that you guys know best and the rest of us are fools or dupes. There’s a lot that I find appealing in libertarianism, but one of the things that bothers me is the arrogant edge that too many of you carry.
I watched a CSpan segment this evening, an interview with Brian Lamb and a group of students from S.M.U. I’ve never been a George Bush proponent, but he came across as an eminently decent man, which is more than I can sary for a lot of the people who post here.
I think there are a lot of people who lurk here hoping for better, but all too often they get the snipe and the gutter politics.
I think it may be time to take the high road. I hope that those who post here are capable of that.
Phil Dillon | Jan 30, 2011 | Reply
Phil,
Anyone who speaks from a definite ideological position tends to sound overly confident or even arrogant to those who stand outside that position. But libertarians differ because whereas others embrace an ideology that seeks to use state power to put their preferences into effect for everybody, libertarians seek only to escape from being victimized by such uses of state power.
I might be as big a fool as George W. Bush, but when Bush, acting as president of the United States, was mistaken, hundreds of thousands of people ended up dead and millions displaced from their homes. If I am wrong, I’m wrong; end of story. Nobody suffers; nobody is killed; nobody has his house blown up by bombs and rockets.
I do not see an ideological conviction in favor of anarchism (my own brand of libertarianism) as arrogance. Anarchists only wish others, who seek to use state force to dominate them, to go away. Is that really asking too much? Can such a preference really be called arrogant? In my mind, it is utterly humble because it explicitly rejects the idea that I may know what is better for others and have the right to impose my view of how they should live on them by violence or threat of violence.
If someone will tell me how to take the high road in regard to mass murder, I will gladly take it. But until I am persuaded that I am wrong simply to denounce it, I will continue to do so.
Robert Higgs | Jan 30, 2011 | Reply
Phil,
“I think it may be time to take the high road”.
Indeed it is. So let’s continue to make loud and clear arguments against the political/military elite who spread their death and destruction all over the world. How much higher can a road get?
Paul Mollon | Jan 30, 2011 | Reply
I actually took a class in “international finance” from this school to complete an unrelated degree from TAMU.
The “finance” course was really more of an economics course, and with a couple years of private Austrian study under my belt, I expected a fight.
Instead, the course was soundly classical. It thoroughly promoted free trade, dispelled myths about “balance of trade”, disparaged government interventions of all types, and taught models which showed that investment and savings were the only course of long-term growth.
Furthermore, I have what you might call a “Classical GOP/Glenn Beck” friend. This man enlisted in the Army in order to go do the good work. He and I have sparred over foreign policy for years.
His transformation since starting the “terrorism” courses at the Bush school has been remarkable. He’s stopped using terms like “Islamofascism”, and basically agrees with me in principle that US intervention has been the cause of our grief in that area.
TAMU is probably one of the most conservative/libertarian University in the nation. Just because the school has public-facing rhetoric to attract students, and the name of a CIA goon turned President, don’t underestimate the ability of the faculty to think for themselves.
Noah | Jan 31, 2011 | Reply
Dr. Higgs, you lost a lot of your credibility today.
“Texas A&M, which is a more or less legitimate institution of higher education....”
It’s not necessary to trash the entire Texas A&M University with that cheap statement to make your point. Similar to how you can criticize U.S. policies without trashing the U.S. (and sounding unpatriotic). Very disappointing. Very revealing.
Paul from Texas | Jan 31, 2011 | Reply
Robert,
With minor exceptions the majority of critically thinking commenters here see the truth and validity of your article.
There are those individuals that understand ... and those individuals ... that never will. Capisce?
“Ne Molesti Te Deprimant”
C’est la guerre
Capt. A. | Jan 31, 2011 | Reply
Robert,
I am a Texas A&M student, applicant to the Bush School, and a libertarian. Your gross generalizations of Bush School graduates is disappointing to say the least. I have read some of your other work and enjoyed it. However, this article seems to be a useless hit piece at best, and it is difficult for me to see the substance.
I personally do not agree with George Bush philosophically or politically, and I am appalled by the useless of the first gulf war. However, I have never met George Bush in person and do not know him. So I will not pass judgment.
If i get accepted to the Bush School, I will be appreciative of the opportunity granted to me, and I hope that if I do receive a master’s degree it will assist me in advancing the philosophy of liberty.
As a person who might soon be in the group you are generalizing about, I would like to reiterate my disappointment that a fellow libertarian would write these things. I hope in the future you will refrain from generalizations about a group of people you clearly do not know.
Steven | Jan 31, 2011 | Reply
Paul from Texas:
You misread Dr. Higgs’s statement. He is not damning Texas A&M, he is acknowledging it as a whole as a legitimate institution of higher learning—which adds to the mystery of its hosting the school in question.
Best wishes,
Mary
Mary Theroux | Jan 31, 2011 | Reply
If public service is a noble calling, then so is crime.
But crime doesn’t have as good a pension plan.
N. Joseph Potts | Jan 31, 2011 | Reply
“he came across as an eminently decent man, which is more than I can say for a lot of the people who post here”
Phil, when someone is directly responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent people and has never acknowledged that crime, nor apologized, nor asked for forgiveness nor attempted to make amends, then it is not “indecent” to expose that person to harsh and uncompromising criticism. The former president, for his crimes and for his lack of repentance deserves much worse—arrest, trial, and if found guilty then either a life sentence or execution. It is ridiculous to quibble over whether it is polite to point out that someone is an unrepentant mass murderer. Let justice be done.
Don John | Jan 31, 2011 | Reply
@Phil you wrote:
“One of the things tha’s really wearing thin is the Libertarian notion that you guys know best and the rest of us are fools or dupes.”
The difference is that we do not take guns and threaten you with it. We know that the only way to anything is “working together by free will” not at the point of a gun.
We just expect that our property is honoured and not “disputable”. And we are strong believers of “as less as possible” big government with goodoers which “know” best what is good for us.
And we are right in that regard that we have warned of the disasters to come. No-one else has achieved that. But we still are oppressed and laughed at because of our opinions.
And I’m much more than fed up with such comments of snake-oil sellers of government and “bureaucracy”.
Friedrich | Jan 31, 2011 | Reply
“In my mind, it is utterly humble because it explicitly rejects the idea that I may know what is better for others and have the right to impose my view of how they should live on them by violence or threat of violence.”
It’s arrogant because you claim to know what what’s best for yourself!
(sadly I must remind the reader that this is meant sarcastically)
Shay | Jan 31, 2011 | Reply
“as if a well-intentioned left-liberal had just poked me in both eyes.”
HAHAHA! That is a fantastic line.
As to the various characters who are disparaging Dr. Higgs for this post, for the love of Pete: Lighten up.
Part of the fun in this post was poking holes in politicians and in ideologies that deserve it. I must also say I fail to see exactly how the good Doctor is disparaging Texas A&M. He seems to me to be poking fun at the underlying ideas of the advertisement and the fact that anyone would have the gumption to name a school of government after such a poor leader as GHW Bush.
As a short aside to Steven, I ask him if he should be surprised at any libertarian making disparaging remarks of a school of government, even if it is supposedly a conservative/libertarian one (it may be, I have no idea). Given the typical output of a school of government (from an ideological not necessarily an intellectual standpoint) I must say I see very little reason for him not to be disparaging of them. The Bush school might be an exception (from a standpoint of genuine libertarianism I’d be willing to bet money it isn’t), but even if it is so what? I’d be surprised if the school (or any of them for that matter) are able to overcome Hayek’s point in Road to Serfdom about the worst always making it to the top.
Keith | Feb 1, 2011 | Reply
As a young boy, my grandfather once said the same thing after meeting Hitler. He was a “decent man”—sadly enough, he wasn’t alone in that opinion.
Rick | Feb 1, 2011 | Reply
I agree with you, 110%.
While I agree with many planks of the Libertarian platform, the elitism that seems to fill the ranks of the libertarian movement is absolutely disgusting. Paraphrasing Gandhi; I like libertarianism, but your libertarians.
Reading threads like this makes me feel like I’m watching the major news networks, being stared at down some libertarian’s nose who thinks his pits don’t stink. The attitude that all of the worlds woes can be laid squarely at the feet of the United States also grinds on me.
That, and the blatant hero worship and willingness to exclude and mock anyone who doesn’t idolize the same figures exactly in accordance with the party line is also a point of contention to me. “So you think Murry Rothbard’s arguments are good only with the propping-up of hindsight? Be gone with ye! You don’t like Ron Paul? You’re no Libertarian!” seems to be the attitude of Libertarians.
Yeah, yeah, I’m a statist, socialist, neocon, whatever buzz word or rhetorical phrasing you feel like using to mock those heretics that think even slightly differently from you.
Jordan | Feb 1, 2011 | Reply
Mr. Higgs, you could’ve demonstrated intellectual prowess by going to the home page for The Bush School and reviewing the curriculum offered as well as the CV’s of the faculty. Rather, you choose to display juvenile intellectual dysfunction, must as Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Ann Coulter do.
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I’m 64 yrs old and am a part-time student at The Bush School and in the final semesters of getting my MA in international affairs, after which I intend to pursue a PhD in the same topical area.
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I’ve been attending Bush since January, 2007, and have encountered some exceptional professors as well as students from throughout the world, all of whom are not only exceptionally intelligent but also conscious of US history under a multitude of Presidents.
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Get your head out of your ass, clean off the fecal matter, and get yourself enrolled in The Bush School so that you might be able to write with some manner of knowledge of your subject as well as presenting yourself as something more than a male child of Sarah Palin.
William J. Neill | Feb 1, 2011 | Reply
Agreed. Tragic.
Daniel | Feb 1, 2011 | Reply
I find it very encouraging that so many statists are reading your articles, Robert. Obviously, I’m not convinced by the pseudo-arguments with which they try to avoid admitting that aggression is what they hold so near and dear.
Tano | Feb 3, 2011 | Reply
Mary, let me rephrase that statement to read:
“Dr. Robert Higgs, who is a more or less legitimate economic historian in America....”
How is that not be a disparaging remark?
Paul from Texas | Feb 3, 2011 | Reply
Dear More or Less Sane Paul from Texas,
I think you are more or less capable of reading this post. So I hope you will Google for usages of “more or less”
Thank you
juvenile | Feb 4, 2011 | Reply
I read back through this thread. It makes me wish I hadn’t said anything to begin with. I suppose it’s good in a way to see that I’m not a critical thinker.
I feel there are some responses in order.
Freidrich
I don’t own a gun, but I do admit to having a 33 ouce Louisville Slugger (Kirby Puckett model) to protect myself.
You’re oppressed? Really. I wasn’t aware. I thought people being run through shredders as thanks for their political opinions is oppression. Please stop playing the victim. It robs people who are really being oppressed of the dignity and support the rest of us owe them.
Rick
When all else fails why is it that some folks resort to the “Hitler” comparison. It’s becoming trite. I’d be willing to bet if the barbarians were beating on your door you’d be screaming for George Bush’s gunboats to come to your rescue. I doubt you’d be clamoring for a diplomat or a scholar.
Professor Higgs
I have enormous respect for you. I started reading your work a couple of years ago. There’s a lot of seminal stuff in “Crisis and Leviathan” and “Against Leviathan.” I think you may even have a point about government service. I would to God that we could develop the capacity to be self-governed. I occasionally drift into fits of fancy, thinking of the Parousia and the day when all the internal and international disputes will be settled. Until that day comes, though, I don’t think the claim that doing nothing in the face of tyranny amounts to absolution. When all the bodies are counted there will be plenty of blame to go around. The pacifists will responsible for their share. The warriors will be responsible for theirs. I don’t know how whether those scales will balance. I wouldn’t begin to pretend to have all the answers. All I can say is that I believe what I believe and see that, as Sweeney Todd’s mother said, “There’s demons lurkin’ about.” Some Libertarians may believe that George Bush is the absolute embodiment of evil. I suggest they look around the globe. They’d find plenty of better candidates. It might even do them some good to look within their own ranks. I suspect they might find a tyrant or two or ten there.
Phil Dillon | Feb 4, 2011 | Reply
>You’re oppressed? Really. I wasn’t aware. I thought people being run through shredders as thanks for their political opinions is oppression.
Hey Phil, try not paying war taxes and let us know how the shredders feel. The whole basis of our society is that we’re not allowed to have differences of political opinion.
Anon | Feb 5, 2011 | Reply
I don’t care what Google results say. ‘more or less’ in that sentence is disparaging.
Paul from Texas | Feb 7, 2011 | Reply
“... the oil that Kuwait’s billionaire sheiks had been stealing from underneath Iraqi territory by means of diagonal drilling?”
Since when did property rights extend below the surface? Since when did libertarians accept that they do?
If they do and that is the justification for the invasion then why did the Iraqis take Kuwait City and incorporate Kuwait into Iraq? Why not just leave?
On a slightly different point. Do Kuwaitis have a right to defend themselves?
Do non-Kuwaitis have a right to defend themselves?
I ask because if the answer to those questions is “yes” as I assume they are then I don’t see how you can oppose the killing of Iraqi conscripts.
Patrick Crozier | Feb 7, 2011 | Reply
Patrick Crozier, I’m not certain, but you seem to confuse private defense with state offense and theft.
When property rights extend below the surface, they are often called the mineral rights of property owners.
clark | Feb 7, 2011 | Reply
Paul,
That’s the spirit, facts be damned!
Steve Verdon | Feb 8, 2011 | Reply
“You’re oppressed? Really. I wasn’t aware. I thought people being run through shredders as thanks for their political opinions is oppression. Please stop playing the victim. It robs people who are really being oppressed of the dignity and support the rest of us owe them.”
Well please explain to me what is meant to “NOT” pay taxes. Will you be left alone? Or will you send to jail? How free can one be if “No is not an answer”?
Friedrich | Feb 17, 2011 | Reply