The current US system of recruitment is a class-based horror that almost insures that the poorest wind up in Iraq.
Amen.
If we *have* to have standing armies, I suppose the draft should be handed out fairly. I say this with great reluctance.
Likewise. But it needs to stop giving the rich dodges out of service, and the draft needs to apply to women, too. Frankly, the only time we as a nation really seem to understand the horror of war is when it affects all of us, or can. As long as we can keep sending the young and poor, too few people are really going to give a damn about getting them home again.
I would like to see mandatory social service of some sort, though. I think everyone should be able to choose between military and non-military positions, but I have no problem with the idea of required community service as long as it doesn't require someone to potentially kill or die.
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Date: 2009-10-22 10:20 pm (UTC)Amen.
If we *have* to have standing armies, I suppose the draft should be handed out fairly. I say this with great reluctance.
Likewise. But it needs to stop giving the rich dodges out of service, and the draft needs to apply to women, too. Frankly, the only time we as a nation really seem to understand the horror of war is when it affects all of us, or can. As long as we can keep sending the young and poor, too few people are really going to give a damn about getting them home again.
I would like to see mandatory social service of some sort, though. I think everyone should be able to choose between military and non-military positions, but I have no problem with the idea of required community service as long as it doesn't require someone to potentially kill or die.