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There are reasons the draft can be a good idea. When the military is only voluntary you get a military with specific ideas about foreign policy and how you see
by klez 7y ago
There are reasons the draft can be a good idea.
When the military is only voluntary you get a military with specific ideas about foreign policy and how you see the enemy, whoever they are.
If you introduce the draft you have a more heterogenous military.
- soniman 7y agoA draft raises the cost of war, making war less likely.
- Retric 7y agoThat depends on how easy it is to get out if it. If the influential always go to the coast guard or whatever, war is less meaningful for those in power.
- zbsisbd 7y ago“That depends on how easy it is to get out if it.” Exactly. That’s why I despise ppl whose connections got them out of the draft. For everyone of those punks, another one of McNamara's morons had to be drafted. Mohamad Ali, on the other hand, he had the courage to go to jail. Burn your draft card, escape to Canada, or simply refuse. But those who use university exemptions or bone spurs can go to hell.
- gbacon 7y agoEven though Ali had the courage to go to jail, by your reasoning in the previous paragraph, someone else “had to” be drafted in his place. Perhaps you won’t go so far as to call conscription kidnapping, but you seem to sympathize at least a bit with people having scruples over being shipped off involuntarily to wage aggressive war. Now, you may admit that some are principled objectors, and others may simply believe that dirty work is beneath them. The more important question is whether the draft is just. If so, then any refusal by the able is wrong, and if not, we may not condemn resistance in any peaceful form. The reality of deferments for the politically connected and most especially those for the children and grandchildren of politicians who vote for war makes utter propaganda the notion that disinterested philosopher-kings or a technocratic elite are merely acting to promote the greatest good for the greatest number.
- austhrow743 7y agoEscaping to Canada increases the amount of McNamara's morons needed the same as a university exemption or bone spurs does. The only difference between your methods is consequences for the person undertaking it, not those that have to replace them. You appear to want people avoiding being drafted to suffer. Pretty odd if you otherwise sympathise with them.
- gojomo 7y agoDoes this argument back-test successfully? Has the US suffered fewer war-fatalities in the era(s) where it had a draft (including the Civil War, WW1, WW2, & Vietnam), or in the era where it has an all-volunteer force (since 1973)?
- soniman 7y agoProbably not but a lot has changed.
- pmiller2 7y agoThat’s almost impossible to compare due to advances in both weapons and protective equipment.
- gojomo 7y agoAnd yet, we have to try to make such comparisons to make such sweeping judgements as "a draft makes war less likely". The quality of weapons and armor (and training and medical care!) also isn't independent of the draft/volunteer dimension. A all-volunteer-force may find it necessary to invest more in each, because fewer people will volunteer to be part of a military force that tries to win with raw & disposable strength-of-numbers. So maybe the all-volunteer-force "raises the cost of war" even more, considering financial costs & second-order effects, and thus best deters war? It's possible, which is why such claims need to be evaluated against history, not just asserted.
- benj111 7y agoI'm not convinced. Assuming you even recruit the officer class from draftees, you're going to recruit the ones that think like you, or at least that you respect, which in practice means they know someone you respect, were taught somewhere you respect, in short they're probably from the same circles as you. Plus if you don't want to join the military, are you really going to give a toss about contributing?
- colek42 7y agoWhat specific kind of military do you get? The US military I was a part of was the most diverse group of men and women I have ever worked with in just any metric you can find.
- tomrod 7y agoI believe parent commentator was making a claim to lack of philosophical diversity, and that a voluntary military is more prone to prefer war over diplomacy. I see the margin the parent commentator is trying to make, but feel it misses people who join the military to obtain gainful employment, get education, or numerous other reasons.
- klez 7y ago> but feel it misses people who join the military to obtain gainful employment, get education, or numerous other reasons. You're right. But I wonder what kind of "politics" they would adopt when needed if they didn't feel the rest of the army has one way of thinking.
- trentnix 7y agoThe issue you identify is a good reason why our system of government, which places an elected, term-limited civilian as the commander of the military, is extremely clever. We end up with an effective military, but have a counterbalance to a military acting as a hammer constantly looking for nails. The people involved are certainly imperfect (and some are more imperfect than others), but we're always just a few years away from a course correction if the electorate sees fit.
- goatinaboat 7y agoa voluntary military is more prone to prefer war over diplomacy. The military gets no say - wars are declared, or not, by elected politicians. What you say is only true in countries where the military runs the government.
- naasking 7y ago
- cptskippy 7y agoYes that's all true at the bottom. The top is still career military and they very much set the culture, tone, and policy.
- klez 7y agoYes, but they don't hold the rifle, in case it matters.
- zarkov99 7y agoAbsolutely. A draft would also force Americans of all backgrounds to interact with each other in an environment that builds cohesion. It would also give even the most powerful of Americans skin in the game when it comes to starting wars.
- gonzo41 7y agoThis only works if there isn't an out for folk with bone spurs.
- zarkov99 7y agoHow widespread were those sort of shenanigans back when the draft was on, do you know?
- pintxo 7y agoWasn’t the last president who has served bush senior? This would mean it‘s rather common in some circles.
- pmiller2 7y agoBarack Obama wasn’t old enough to serve in Vietnam, so he wouldn’t have needed to dodge serving. In about 20 years, provided the draft doesn’t get reinstated, we’re likely to have more presidents who never served.
- lostlogin 7y ago> A draft would also force Americans of all backgrounds to interact with each other in an environment that builds cohesion. Every American presidential election has a side show about the candidates military record and a meaningful number appear to have dodged their service - current president included.
- cafard 7y agoA draft cannot be made practical and fair unless you are going to have an Army of 1945 proportions. Otherwise, you might need one in ten draft-age men, and the business of choosing which becomes even more open to manipulation.
- spodek 7y agoI propose a civilian service academy and civilian service, which would achieve most of a draft's goals without the military. American infrastructure could use it, among other benefits. I talk about it in episode 138 in my podcast: http://joshuaspodek.com/guests/rants-raves-monologues-volume-4 http://joshuaspodek.com/guests/rants-raves-monologues-volume.... General McChrystal wrote about it in Time Magazine: Every American Should Serve For One Year https://time.com/4824366/year-national-service-americorps-peace-corps https://time.com/4824366/year-national-service-americorps-pe...
- iikoolpp 7y ago> I propose more government mandated slavery Let me fix that for you.
- neetfreek 7y agoThis is what we have in Finland; basically either: 1. Military service ranging from half a year to a year. 2. Civil service for a year. 3. Half a year prison sentence. 4. Exemption for medical reasons. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscription_in_Finland https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscription_in_Finland
- Nasrudith 7y agoThat is oxymoronic - the purpose of the draft is to have military warm bodies without having to pay or get volunteers. Infastructure work's limitations are based on funding and skilled labor - not a mass of gruntwork.