I came here to talk about the draft

[balmofgilead]

Props to anyone who got the reference in the subject line.

DISCUSSION QUESTION:
What do you think about the idea of a military draft, both a) in general and b) specifically now?

Random pieces of information:

1) I personally am opposed to the current war stuff going on in Iraq (Is it still a war? Did we "win"?), which prompts me to cursorily condemn the idea of a draft.

2) Someone recently told me that they believe a draft would/could be a good thing.
Their logic was as follows: if there's a draft, people from all walks of life will be fighting (including children and relatives and family friends of the warmongering politicians and businesspeople), and this will cause The People In Charge to act more moderately/responsibly and give more thought and consideration to what they're doing. The assumption was that the military currently consists largely of poor people and minorities, and that The People In Charge may (sadly) view these people as more expendable than, say, middle-class white people.

3) There are more things I could say, but instead I'll shut up and see what people say/think.

Comments

to some extent I'm playing devil's advocate, but

[balmofgilead.livejournal.com]

Those serving--students, professionals, etc.--were not treated particularly well, came home to a cold country, and now have incredible psychological wounds.

I agree with this, but when I think about it some more, the same could be true for anyone in the army, and perhaps that's not any better (especially given that people may join the army out of desperation/lack of other options, which makes it almost like a "draft of the down-and-out.")

If a particular war were indeed necessary to protect our country, it would seem fair that everyone share the burden. It feels strange to say "Oh, I personally don't feel this is necessary, so I shouldn't be obligated to help," because it opens up an opportunity for anyone to worm their way out of true responsibility in a situation where war /is/ indeed warranted. {Maybe we should all share the burden of having shitty People In Charge as well? }

Wherein I agree with the devil...

[notfadeaway.livejournal.com]

In retrospect, I agree that what I wrote is probably applicable to most people in the army. And you're right - if the war were to protect our country, I could see the value of a draft. In the case of Iraq, however, I do not feel we are "protecting our country." With so many people misled and believing Iraq was involved on 9/11, though, it is interesting to see how the protection argument was used to enlist soliders.