Quote:

“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.”--Martin Luther King

Thursday, April 4, 2019

Wrong?

Few Americans, however, are likely to be comfortable delegating the power of conscription to a federal government they inherently distrust. Still, paradoxically, the move toward a no-deferment, equitable lottery draft might result in a nation less prone to militarism and adventurism than the optional AVF has. Parents whose children are subject to military service, as well as young adults themselves, might prove to be canny students of foreign policy who would actively oppose the next American war. Imagine that: an engaged citizenry that holds its legislators accountable and subsequently hits the streets to oppose unnecessary and unethical war. Ironic as it may seem, more military service may actually be the only workable formula for less war. Too bad returning to a citizens’ military is as unpopular as it is unlikely.--Maj. Danny

I'm not at all convinced of this. I've heard it posited over the years, and I just don't see how it might staunch unnecessary wars. I don't see it extending freedoms.  I don't see the elites playing fair.  Little Johnnys and Sallys would find a way out.  They always do. A socialist revolt will take much, much more thought about the role of militarism in a restructured society.

I think Maj. Danny has taken a precarious step backwards here.


TS 

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