I said:
Oops, please invert X and Y above.
freedom. suppposedly that is what we have in the usa.
each of us is born into this world without choice. each of us has the right to try to do whatever the hell we’d like to with our lives. nobody can change that. not even all of you that are telling varlosz in what manner he must avoid [or not] a draft. he can and will act in the manner of his choosing. that is a right you cannot take away, and demanding how he ought/must act is silly.
otoh, the government has no rights. what they have is strength and weapons. they try to restrict individuals’ freedoms in various ways, and inexplicably [to me anyway], most people let them do it. further they demand that others also give up their freedoms.
afaict, many of the posters here that argue against velosz are offended that he could be so unpatriotic as to potentially refuse to fight and kill for the country he lives in. and further, he wants to have the government help fund his education. in his mind the two are connected only artificially by the government, and he is standing up [here] to say that that connection is artificial, and he therefore does not recognize it. the government has the ability to punish those that don’t obey even it’s most arbitrary rules. that does not mean the rules are good, or that everyone must or will obey them. that just means they can try to punish rulebreakers.
patriotism [also known as nationalism] is just a tool of politicians used to manipulate individuals. it is used by governments around the world, and will continue to be used as long as enough individuals fall for it. hitler used it, milosevic used it, reagan used it, kennedy used it, they all do.
I’ll chime in here as someone who would draft-dodge without reservation or hesitation. I have very strong moral reasons for this…
I could never in good conscience willingly sign away my right to decide to take (or preserve) another human’s life to any outside authority (eg government). I could not even indirectly give up my right to do so (eg non-combat position that results in deaths of others). This is not to say that I would never willingly serve in such a position or defend myself or my country, just that the choice to do so is fundamentally mine and mine alone.
Those of you that seem to have an infallible trust in government, believe all wars are just, have an eager readiness to take arms, and are so quick to decry someone who simply wishes to possess the right not to kill when asked to do so, give me the serious chills…