Reason.com - Free Minds and Free Markets
Reason logo Reason logo
  • Latest
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Subscribe
    • Crossword
  • Video
  • Podcasts
    • All Shows
    • The Reason Roundtable
    • The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie
    • The Soho Forum Debates
    • Just Asking Questions
    • The Best of Reason Magazine
    • Why We Can't Have Nice Things
  • Volokh
  • Newsletters
  • Donate
    • Donate Online
    • Donate Crypto
    • Ways To Give To Reason Foundation
    • Torchbearer Society
    • Planned Giving
  • Subscribe
    • Reason Plus Subscription
    • Print Subscription
    • Gift Subscriptions
    • Subscriber Support

Login Form

Create new account
Forgot password

Politics

John Kerry Blasts Washington's "messianic enterprise"; says "moralism can be very defeating for the United States"

Matt Welch | 9.5.2013 9:04 PM

Share on FacebookShare on XShare on RedditShare by emailPrint friendly versionCopy page URL
Media Contact & Reprint Requests

The man who today is attempting to convince the United States to go war based on the principle of moralistic intervention, was in November 1971 telling a hilarious William F. Buckley (sample line: "He is, as you will note, from Boston") that moralistic intervention is the root of America's foreign policy rot:

Well I don't think that the United States—and I think this is the biggest problem aboiut Vietnam—can necessarily apply moral, uh, moralisms to its commitments around the world, and I think this is one of the great fallacies of our foreign policy at the present moment. Interventionism, as well as globalism, both stem from the same kind of moralism. And in a certain sense I think that moralism can be very defeating for the United States and its undertakings. It gets us into a sort of messianic enterprise, whereby we have this impression that somehow we can go out and touch these other countries and change them, and I think this is what in a sense led us into Vietnam.

Watch the whole clip, which will make native Californians wonder what language is being spoken, below:

Link via the Twitter feed of Chris Fountain.

Start your day with Reason. Get a daily brief of the most important stories and trends every weekday morning when you subscribe to Reason Roundup.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

NEXT: Pelosi's Closest Allies Yet To Be Convinced on Syria Intervention

Matt Welch is an editor at large at Reason.

PoliticsJohn KerryWorldPolicySyriaVietnamForeign PolicyWar
Share on FacebookShare on XShare on RedditShare by emailPrint friendly versionCopy page URL
Media Contact & Reprint Requests

Show Comments (92)

Latest

Republican Reconciliation Package Will Lead to $3 Trillion Annual Deficits

Christian Britschgi | 5.14.2025 5:09 PM

Gavin Newsom Wants To Make the Country's Most Expensive Gas Even More Expensive

Jeff Luse | 5.14.2025 3:30 PM

Trump's Case Against Birthright Citizenship Is a Constitutional Loser

Damon Root | 5.14.2025 2:35 PM

The Court-Ordered Takeover of Rikers Shows the Crisis in American Prisons and Jails

C.J. Ciaramella | 5.14.2025 1:55 PM

At 'Orgasmic Meditation' Trial, Feds Can't Find a Clitoris—or Evidence of Forced Labor

Elizabeth Nolan Brown | 5.14.2025 12:45 PM

Recommended

  • About
  • Browse Topics
  • Events
  • Staff
  • Jobs
  • Donate
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • Media
  • Shop
  • Amazon
Reason Facebook@reason on XReason InstagramReason TikTokReason YoutubeApple PodcastsReason on FlipboardReason RSS

© 2024 Reason Foundation | Accessibility | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

r

Do you care about free minds and free markets? Sign up to get the biggest stories from Reason in your inbox every afternoon.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

This modal will close in 10

Reason Plus

Special Offer!

  • Full digital edition access
  • No ads
  • Commenting privileges

Just $25 per year

Join Today!