[P8riot]

"An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life." - Robert A. Heinlein

We're just doing our part to restore civility to our society.

[2ndDivisionVet]

In some ways Mr. Heinlein was a guide and maybe a prophet. Take his novel Starship Troopers: In the Terran Federation the rights of a full Citizen (to vote, and hold public office) must be earned through some form of volunteer "military" service. Those residents who have not exercised their right to perform this Federal Service retain the other rights generally associated with a modern democracy (free speech, assembly, etc.), but they cannot vote or hold public office. This structure arose ad hoc after the collapse of the 20th century western democracies, brought on by both social failures at home and military defeat by the Chinese Hegemony overseas. I really like that idea. If it were already enacted here, you'd have never heard of Barack Obama.