The draft, at least during the Vietnam War, did allow for conscientious objectors, to perform alternative service. My dad was drafted (in the very first lottery; no wonder he’s always said his birthday is an unlucky day), jumped through the hoops and acquired conscientious objector status. I’m not exactly sure how it was assigned to him (I could ask if you really want to know), but as alternative service he worked for two years as a social worker in Oakland.
So it was possible even then to opt out of the draft, but you’ll note it still wasn’t particularly popular.
And how many of them are as big as the United States and have to handle the subsidization of hundreds of millions of peoples’ entire lifestyle?
If you really believe that every college student is covered as extensively by financial aid and familial help as veterans are by the Montgomery GI Bill, can you explain how I fell headlong into malnutrition and crushing debt working and going to school last year? My story is by no means unusual. Have you met any lower-middle-class college students lately?
Of course. But many of them would, and the rest would all have at least some small chunk of the responsibility for our national security–however infinitesimal–in their hands. The opportunity for sabotage is ripe even for a kid who never sees battle.
That’s not a given, but I’m glad you support it. I think that would have to be a part of any compulsory service plan–and a big part, that you don’t have to scratch and claw to get into–for me to support it, personally.
Without a cite, it’s not a “known fact”, it’s just a bald assertion. Come on, man, you’re not that dumb. Which “multi-star generals”, and from which nations, agree with you?
It’s important to note that under the UCMJ, an American general who made a public statement to the contrary during a time of war (i.e., the last 5 years) would probably be subject to prosecution.
ISTM, from the massively common story of other anti-war draftees being sent off to Vietnam, that it was a lot harder to get conscientious objector status conferred upon oneself than it should have been.
Absent reliable evidence to the contrary, I would assume that almost every draftee who objected to the war made the greatest possible attempt to get out of fighting in it.
So, you think there should be a draft, but that everyone who wants to opt out should be allowed to? What on earth would be the point? Why not just call for a period of national service? Some European countries do this (I know Austria does off the top of my head, but I have a feeling there are others). Say, one or two years to work in some kind of service situation.
It’d never happen, but it wouldn’t be greeted by the uproar that the word “draft” would.
Okeydoke. Well, even though I am personally a big proponent of service, I don’t believe making it mandatory is the way to go. Plus, you’d never get much public support for the idea.
IMHO, a better idea would be to promote the concept of service more. There already are service programs for people who are educated or in the process of becoming so, like AmeriCorps (which I think is largely populated by current college students or recent grads) or Peace Corps (which almost always requires a college degree), but I think it would be feasible to create another service corps for people who do not have the education.
Hm. Now that I think about it, it’s beginning to sound like the WPA. I don’t know that the public would readily accept a new New Deal.
Anyway, it doesn’t matter how large the country (or its population) is- the economy will generally be that much larger to match.
The United States of America is the richest country on Earth, and it isn’t close. If any other nation can afford to do it, we certainly can. Our defense budget is just a hair under that of the rest of the world combined.
I was a lower middle class college student until quite recently.
In any case, my point is not that we spend as much on each college student as we would on each kid putting in his or her time, just that the overall cost would be defrayed by all the stuff we’d be able to cut.
The General Accounting Office figured out sometime after the Gulf War that reintroducing the draft would require an increase in the defense budget of approximately $2-3 billions per annum. Obviously, that’s pretty much a drop in the bucket.
In any case, this cost would be borne, if not reversed, by the domestic service programs that could then be created. It’s pretty fucking sad that New Orleans is still half a shanty town, two years after Katrina.
Under national service, it would have been rebuilt long ago- if for no other reason than because these kids need something to do when they aren’t fighting wars.
Not necessarily. A national service draft could easily funnel people into non-governmental nonprofits who don’t answer to the current administration in any meaningful way. In fact, I would think that a Republican administration would prefer just that.
“One of the amusing by-products of war is its pricking of the fundamental democratic delusion. For years Homo boobus stalks the earth vaingloriously flapping his wings over his God-given rights, his inalienable freedom, his sublime equality to his masters. Then of a sudden he is thrust into a training camp, and discovers that he is a slave, after all— that even his life is not his own. One day he is the favorite of the Constitution and the peer of George Washington. The next day he is standing in line with a musket over his shoulder, and an officer is barking at him.”
I’m not sure I follow the argument here entirely, but are you implying that China has conscription/national service? Because it does not, and has not since the communist takeover. Since the Chinese population is growing while it’s military is shrinking considerably, it would also be unlikely in the future.
That is a quirk of translation. What it actually means is that the government has the legislative authority to draft citizens for military service. This has never actually occurred(to my knowledge, and if it has it would have been on a very small scale) and is unlikely to occur in the future.
A conversation with any Chinese male of military age, or hell, any Chinese male of any age will confirm this. If they have served in the military, then they were volunteers. The Republic of China (Taiwan) does maintain a large conscript army, something which mainlanders find quaint.
Is McCain against Roe v. Wade or not? Maybe it’s the ex-Clintonite’s gaffe and not his, but somebody is off-message (and if she learned the truth, would she switch back?).
Eldon Smith also happens to be a member of the University of Calgary Faculty of Medicine, and a CANADIAN. So not only is McCain using ALIASES, he has dual citizenship and is thus ineligible for election to the office of president.
The possibility that the name swapping Mr. McCain might also betoken himself “Eldon John, Knight Bachelor of the British empire” simply boggles the mind.
There just may be no end to the man’s perfidy.
My goodness, Senator McCain just can’t seem to turn around without sticking his $500 Ferragamo’s right up to his uvula…
Check out this enlightening DailyKos diary, wherein the venerable Senator makes an illegal campaign stop at an Arizona high school to introduce a Latino rapper, Daddy Yankee, to a crowd of screaming teenaged girls. A McCain staffer volunteers the information that the rapper’s song “Gasolina” is McCain’s “favorite.” Problem is that the song is all about fucking, and “gasolina” is Puerto Rican slang for sperm. Hmm. When they say McCain panders for votes, they sure ain’t kidding!
