09-24-2017, 11:19 PM
(09-24-2017, 10:22 PM)Kinser79 Wrote:(09-24-2017, 12:43 AM)Warren Dew Wrote:(09-23-2017, 10:55 PM)Kinser79 Wrote: If the idea is for the US to be a democratic republic then having a draft is absolutely necessary. I agree that getting rid of the draft was a mistake. Myself would like to see it re-instituted, hell we could even include two years of civilian national service instead of military enlistment as an option.
The draft is a form of slavery, plain and simple. There's no reason to bring it back.
Draftees are considerably less effective than volunteers. Especially in this day and age, when it costs so much money to train and equip each soldier, it makes no sense not to start with people with some motivation.
The days are gone when wars were won by the side with the largest number of barely competent cannon fodder just by giving each man a rifle. And we should be glad those days are gone, as the US would lose such wars due to relatively low population.
I more or less agree with you. But I also would also like to limit the franchise to veterains a la Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers. In such a case having a volunteer military is a requirement. However, it is my view that if the goal is to have a democratic republic based on universal sufferage then a draft is absolutely necessary.
As to slavery, all forms of government are a form of slavery. The goal should be have the least amount of slavery possible since living in man's anarchic state of nature is impossible, and largely undesirable.
The weak government of the Dark Ages made serfdom a certainty. Weak government could never free slaves; strong government could.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.