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Originally posted by mattos
was there a draft during the revolutionary war? (i won't comment on the civil war as i am sure my arguments would cause the thread to burst into flames. i'll let my avatar speak for itself
)
i see your point as to the larger picture; world war 2 being the strongest example i can see.
i can't support the ultimate violation of liberty though (forcing someone to go die) as an appropriate means of securing liberty. if our society is one where the preservation of the state is the ultimate good, then a draft makes sense. and in modern american, that may be the case. i, however, see liberty as the ultimate good, even at the expense of the state (thus i would rather to see the US split into smaller parts where the people rule themselves than see the central government force everyone to live in a manner they dislike). a draft is, by definition, only necessary when a large portion of the people do not support the military activity. that, i believe, is their choice. if that means the british take over than so be it. it is better for the people to choose their fate than to have it forced upon them.
since liberty is, IMO, the greatest good for the state, i simply cannot support forcing others to go and die against their will. one person doesn't have the right to do that to someone else and, IMO, neither does a group of people (whether they wield the power of the government or not).
was there a draft during the revolutionary war? (i won't comment on the civil war as i am sure my arguments would cause the thread to burst into flames. i'll let my avatar speak for itself
)i see your point as to the larger picture; world war 2 being the strongest example i can see.
i can't support the ultimate violation of liberty though (forcing someone to go die) as an appropriate means of securing liberty. if our society is one where the preservation of the state is the ultimate good, then a draft makes sense. and in modern american, that may be the case. i, however, see liberty as the ultimate good, even at the expense of the state (thus i would rather to see the US split into smaller parts where the people rule themselves than see the central government force everyone to live in a manner they dislike). a draft is, by definition, only necessary when a large portion of the people do not support the military activity. that, i believe, is their choice. if that means the british take over than so be it. it is better for the people to choose their fate than to have it forced upon them.
since liberty is, IMO, the greatest good for the state, i simply cannot support forcing others to go and die against their will. one person doesn't have the right to do that to someone else and, IMO, neither does a group of people (whether they wield the power of the government or not).
There's a lot more going in behind people's thoughts on the drafts than I realize.
I am not a fan of the draft because I believe people who voluntarily sign up have better morale, and have more desire to be good soldiers and do their jobs to the best of their ability, even if it means death. Draftees may be physiacally fit, and have no psychological reason to disqualify them, but that doesn't mean they are fit to be in the armed forces. Ultimately, as long as people realize that a service of draftees may have more cases of abandonment and AWOL, etc etc. I am not syaing that it ok for people to do this, but its something that you have to tolerate if you want a draft. That some people will just say "Screw you, I am leaving."
I think that one of the ways to get more people in the armed forces is to have citizens buckle up and tell our congressman that its sucks that they would rather spend money on campaigns and pork barrel poolitics than defense and infrastructure. Voters tend to be apathetic, so these guys vote how they please, and no one cares. So the military always gets put on the back burner.
Military people, especially college educated ones, need to be paid a more competative salary. Our best and brightest aren't dumb. They know they can earn 2-3 times more in the private sector. And the enlisted guys and gals out of high school have it really bad. They make a piittance. Money isn't everything, but it certainly would help the recruiting pitch.
And finally, recruiters disproportionately target minority and lowr income neighborhoods. That doesn't mean that those folks don't make good soldiers, but it means that a lot of bright minds are never even approached by recruiters because they were lucky enough to be born in the 'burbs. SO military service never even crosses their minds.
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