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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: dumbmoney who wrote (135037)	5/31/2004 3:13:57 AM
From: Maurice Winn	Respond to of 281500

<War propaganda is powerful stuff, and not many people can resist it. > With a parade, drums beating and bagpipes playing. Young women cheering the young men on. Calls to courage and proof of manhood. Speeches about the homeland, motherland and the glory of God. Contempt of the frightened, abuse of the conscientious objector, rewards for the heroes. By crikey, where's my gun? I gotta shoot some varmints before they rape my sister, mother, wife and daughter and destroy our lives. All for one and one for all. Death or glory. You are right, propaganda works a treat and it's quite natural. Working up a head of steam and going on a territorial defence is as old as chimpanzees, who do just the same, as seen on tv. Other animals do it. We are also just animals when we do it. Smart animals, but just animals. Which is demoralizing, given our self-aggrandizement to a supernatural stature. <The sacrifice isn't shared, either; drafts generally target a narrow slice of the population (e.g. young men).> That's for sure. Check out President AWOL for example. No swampy, leech-infested jungle for him with sharpened bamboo stakes in holes in the ground. Plenty of people found a way out. No way out for the Louisville Lip though! He didn't have friends in high places. He was shown who was boss. Mqurice

To: dumbmoney who wrote (135037)	5/31/2004 8:59:21 AM
From: Sarmad Y. Hermiz	Respond to of 281500

>> There's a big contradiction - conscription is a form of slavery, which is the opposite of freedom. Yes, but living in a society and defending it has costs that can't be avoided. There is no question that if a country lacks the means to defend itself, it will be attacked. The latest example is Iraq. There is no shortage of attackers. The question is how to best defend. Should the risk and sacrifice be imposed equally ? Or not ? If a draft does not equalize the human cost, does relying on volunteers come closer to achieving equality ? >> think the empirical evidence is on the other side, i.e. drafts enable war. I don't think this is the case in the US. A proposal for a draft at this time will start a discussion on national goals. I am sure that any dreams of the war-enthusiasts regarding invasion of Iran and Syria will be questioned in terms of their human costs to American families. >> The sacrifice isn't shared, either; drafts generally target a narrow slice of the population (e.g. young men). But all men go thru the stage of being young, so that is equal. The other issue is gender equality. I am in favor of mandatory "national service". I know, more slavery. But really, living in society has costs, and there has to be a way to distribute them.

To: dumbmoney who wrote (135037)	5/31/2004 5:27:04 PM
From: Hawkmoon	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

There's a big contradiction - conscription is a form of slavery, which is the opposite of freedom. And I image you feel the same way about public school, taxes, jury duty, licensing laws, and all the other minutiae required to create, sustain, and protect a free society, right? Conscription is no different than public school in that the state requires people to fulfill a obligation aimed at serving the greater public good. But I do believe that conscription should be, if ever, initiated as mandatory service upon graduation. It doesn't have to be military.. It could be performing community service, or something like the CCC of the depression era, or even the peace corps. And it could be delayed pending satisfactory completion of a college education or technical training, such as medical school, when necessary skills are obtained. In return, I believe that all people who satisfactorily complete such service should receive either free, or greated discounted, college or technical tuition. Making it possible for all people to obtain an education and technical training would be an investment in our people, enable them to make more money (with consequent greater tax revenues) and eliminate many of the excuses amongst current youth that they are facing no opportunities. Hawk