The Draft: Coming Soon?
The following article appears in the latest issue of the Utah Freedom Activist Newsletter.
The Draft: Coming Soon?
by The Militant Libertarian
MilitantLibertarian.org
Is "the draft" just a rumor perpetrated by anti-Bush zealots hoping to shake up some of their "ultra-conservative" counterparts by pandering to their "conspiranoid leanings?"
Nope. It's based on fact. Maybe not everything being said is true, but at least the core idea is correct: there is pending legislation to create a national draft for the military. Not just any draft either…but full-on conscription.
What's the difference? It's semantics, really. A "draft" in our common parlance refers to a temporary war-time measure meant to boost the number of new recruits into the military to fight a war that will, eventually, end. "Conscription," however, has been used by nations throughout history to keep a fixed-size standing military in place and to, in many ways, control the population of their nation through it.
As an example, the United States in recent memory has used a "draft" to bolster ranks temporarily during World War II and Vietnam. Notable nations currently with or recently with conscription (mandatory service) include the USSR, China, pre-WWII-era Japan, and others.
Well, pending legislation now being considered in both the House (HR 163) and the Senate (S 89)-both bills being nearly identical-would require mandatory service for anyone ages 18-26 in our nation's military. This is not a temporary war-time measure, but a permanent conscription required of all.
Is this good or bad?
Consider three things: 1) this is two more years of heavy indoctrination by our government after 12 years of government school; 2) our nation has never, in all its 200-odd years of history, had trouble getting its people to join in and fight a war…until that war was political in nature-ala Vietnam; 3) the 13th Amendment reads, in part, "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude…"
Indoctrination is what "public schools" (i.e. government-run public schools) are all about. If you don't believe and understand that, you either never attended or are oblivious to what goes on in public school in reality. Increasing federal involvement in once-localized public schools has only worsened the situation. The military, for most of these public school graduates, is nothing more than two more years of slightly more intense indoctrination into the Way of Fascism that is now our form of government. Look up the definition of "fascism" and see if I'm not right.
In two hundred and fifteen years of history (starting from 1789, with the ratification of the Constitution), our nation has fought over twenty conflicts that any American History 101 student can name offhand. Of those, at least half (probably more) were politically-motivated. At least six of those twenty lasted more than one year and cost more than 100,000 American lives. The first of these that any AH101 student can name that required a draft to force more Americans to fight for the "cause" was the Civil War. The latest one in our history is the often-mentioned Vietnam War. The last war we fought that anyone can recall having a draft that wasn't really needed was World War II, in which there were actually more enlistees (volunteers) than there were draftees participating. Americans are willing to stand up and fight when the reasons are justifiable, but loathe to participate when the war is motivated by politics instead of need.
Finally, the 13th Amendment, created to end slavery in this country, does much more than that. It disallows any form of "involuntary servitude" that is not meted out as punishment for a properly tried crime: "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." I don't know about you, but this reads pretty clearly to me and doesn't require a PhD to understand.
One more thing that's interesting to note about the pending draft legislations are their inclusion of women… For the first time in our history, not only is conscription being put into the mix, but women are being included. University attendance, church service (such as LDS missions), etc. are NOT given exemption either. This means your child will have to wait until he or she is 20 to start college or go on a faith-based mission.
I urge you to begin opposing this legislation NOW, and not to wait until it hits "major media news." By then, it may be too late to stop the wheels from turning. If you let them know now that you are aware of it and it makes you unhappy enough to do something about it, you'll make a much bigger impact with your opinion.
Go to http://thomas.loc.gov/, the online U.S. legislative archive, and look for HR 163 and for S 89 in this 108th Congress. Get the facts and act on them!
-----
Got comments? Email me, dammit!
The Draft: Coming Soon?
by The Militant Libertarian
MilitantLibertarian.org
Is "the draft" just a rumor perpetrated by anti-Bush zealots hoping to shake up some of their "ultra-conservative" counterparts by pandering to their "conspiranoid leanings?"
Nope. It's based on fact. Maybe not everything being said is true, but at least the core idea is correct: there is pending legislation to create a national draft for the military. Not just any draft either…but full-on conscription.
What's the difference? It's semantics, really. A "draft" in our common parlance refers to a temporary war-time measure meant to boost the number of new recruits into the military to fight a war that will, eventually, end. "Conscription," however, has been used by nations throughout history to keep a fixed-size standing military in place and to, in many ways, control the population of their nation through it.
As an example, the United States in recent memory has used a "draft" to bolster ranks temporarily during World War II and Vietnam. Notable nations currently with or recently with conscription (mandatory service) include the USSR, China, pre-WWII-era Japan, and others.
Well, pending legislation now being considered in both the House (HR 163) and the Senate (S 89)-both bills being nearly identical-would require mandatory service for anyone ages 18-26 in our nation's military. This is not a temporary war-time measure, but a permanent conscription required of all.
Is this good or bad?
Consider three things: 1) this is two more years of heavy indoctrination by our government after 12 years of government school; 2) our nation has never, in all its 200-odd years of history, had trouble getting its people to join in and fight a war…until that war was political in nature-ala Vietnam; 3) the 13th Amendment reads, in part, "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude…"
Indoctrination is what "public schools" (i.e. government-run public schools) are all about. If you don't believe and understand that, you either never attended or are oblivious to what goes on in public school in reality. Increasing federal involvement in once-localized public schools has only worsened the situation. The military, for most of these public school graduates, is nothing more than two more years of slightly more intense indoctrination into the Way of Fascism that is now our form of government. Look up the definition of "fascism" and see if I'm not right.
In two hundred and fifteen years of history (starting from 1789, with the ratification of the Constitution), our nation has fought over twenty conflicts that any American History 101 student can name offhand. Of those, at least half (probably more) were politically-motivated. At least six of those twenty lasted more than one year and cost more than 100,000 American lives. The first of these that any AH101 student can name that required a draft to force more Americans to fight for the "cause" was the Civil War. The latest one in our history is the often-mentioned Vietnam War. The last war we fought that anyone can recall having a draft that wasn't really needed was World War II, in which there were actually more enlistees (volunteers) than there were draftees participating. Americans are willing to stand up and fight when the reasons are justifiable, but loathe to participate when the war is motivated by politics instead of need.
Finally, the 13th Amendment, created to end slavery in this country, does much more than that. It disallows any form of "involuntary servitude" that is not meted out as punishment for a properly tried crime: "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." I don't know about you, but this reads pretty clearly to me and doesn't require a PhD to understand.
One more thing that's interesting to note about the pending draft legislations are their inclusion of women… For the first time in our history, not only is conscription being put into the mix, but women are being included. University attendance, church service (such as LDS missions), etc. are NOT given exemption either. This means your child will have to wait until he or she is 20 to start college or go on a faith-based mission.
I urge you to begin opposing this legislation NOW, and not to wait until it hits "major media news." By then, it may be too late to stop the wheels from turning. If you let them know now that you are aware of it and it makes you unhappy enough to do something about it, you'll make a much bigger impact with your opinion.
Go to http://thomas.loc.gov/, the online U.S. legislative archive, and look for HR 163 and for S 89 in this 108th Congress. Get the facts and act on them!
-----
Got comments? Email me, dammit!
posted by Aaron Turpen @ 3:27 PM
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