The philosophy of America First means that we no longer have to look outside our shores to fuel our ambitions or make strategic decisions. - Charlie Kirk

Greatness, on the other hand, requires the liberty and the drive to make the most of yourself.

It is unconscionable that for decades we’ve expected heroes maimed by American involvement in unresolved conflicts overseas, and the families of those killed in those fights, to accept “We tried” as the best assessment of what was achieved by the fighting. Surveys now show most American soldiers think our recent wars have been unproductive. Maybe they, away from the spin machines of the Washington policy establishment, know what they’re talking about.

It’s not that everything America does in the name of defense is evil or imperialist, but this is a system that has taken on a life of its own. If Making America Great Again means asking whether government spending is benefiting our nation, even the military defense of that nation must be open to critical scrutiny. At some point, waste becomes as toxic as hostile outside forces, and potentially provocative in itself. Military excursions that ought to make us think twice seem deceptively simple if the war planners have a trillion dollars to blow and the lives ended are not their own.