Posted on 10/21/2014 3:43:17 AM PDT by Kaslin
Former Clinton Administration Labor Secretary Robert Reich recently called on the government to force young people to spend two years either "serving" in the military or performing some other type of government-directed "community service." Neoconservative Senator John McCain has introduced legislation creating a mandatory national service program very similar to Reich's proposal. It is not surprising that both a prominent progressive and a leading neocon would support mandatory national service, as this is an issue that has long united authoritarians on the left and right.
Proponents of national service claim that young people have a moral obligation to give something back to society. But giving the government power to decide our moral obligations is an invitation to totalitarianism.
Mandatory national service is not just anti-liberty, it is un-American. Whether or not they admit it, supporters of mandatory national service do not believe that individuals have "inalienable rights." Instead, they believe that rights are gifts from the government, and, since government is the source of our rights, government can abridge or even take away those rights whenever Congress decides.
Mandatory national service also undermines private charitable institutions. In a free society, many people will give their time or money to service projects to help better their communities, working with religious or civic associations. But in a society with government-enforced national service, these associations are likely to become more reliant on government-supplied forced labor. They will then begin to tailor their programs to satisfy the demands of government bureaucrats instead of the needs of the community.
The very worst form of national service is, of course, the military draft, which forces young people to kill or be killed on government orders. The draft lowers the cost of an interventionist foreign policy because government need not compete with private employers for recruits. Anyone who refuses a draft notice runs the risk of being jailed, so government can provide lower pay and benefits to draftees than to volunteers.
As the burden of our hyper-interventionist foreign policy increases, it is increasingly likely that there will be serious attempts to reinstate the military draft. General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, continues to suggest that US troops on the ground may be needed to fight "Operation Inherent Resolve" in Iraq and Syria. A major escalation requiring a large US troop deployment will likely add pressure to consider a military draft.
The only real way the American people can protect their children from the military draft is to demand an end to the foreign policy that sees the US military as the solution to any and every problem - from ISIS to Ebola - anywhere in the world.
Some who share my opposition to a militaristic foreign policy support the draft because they think a draft will increase public opposition to war. However, the existence of a draft did not stop the American government from launching unconstitutional wars in Vietnam and Korea. While the draft did play a role in mobilizing political opposition to Vietnam, it took almost a decade and the death of thousands of American draftees for that opposition to reach critical mass.
It is baffling that conservatives who (properly) oppose raising taxes would support any form of national service, including the military draft. It is similarly baffling that liberals who oppose government interference with our personal lives would support mandatory national service. Mandatory national service is a totalitarian policy that should be rejected by all who value liberty.
Mixed on this one...tie it to Citizenship (vote).
Rand it out of his mind
Oh, good gravy, not this again.
Rand didn’t write this. Ron did.
Most libertarians are
Sometimes, as in this case, the old kook is right.
Expecting one segment of the population to “serve” while another (growing) segment lives on the dole for multiple generations is absurd.
In my area “serving” literally means white people doling out freebies to non-whites, whether food or school supplies or whatever.
I’d be much more comfortable with having people work (for wages) for some period during senior year in high school; this would motivate them to get the most out of their educations.
Volunteering should be voluntary and outside of the sphere of the nanny state.
Compulsory volunteerism could only come from the minds of brain-damaged liberals.
as this is an issue that has long united authoritarians on the left and right.
No Ronnie paul bot - there cannot be authoritarians on "the right" by definition. They may be Republican (McCain), but they are not "on the right."
Congressman Paul has forgotten it seems that Congress sets the End Troop Strength Levels. Shortages of today are not caused by a lack of willing to volunteer but rather a ridiculous and unrealistically low number of allowed volunteers set by congress.
The Mandatory Service seems like a foot in the door for the likes of ones like Obama and other future presidents to have a temptation too or attempt to form a national police to enforce administration and agencies agendas upon the public. No good can come from it.
The ability of having The Draft itself is a necessary evil to ensure the survival of our nation and congress does have the right to call forth troops for such. That doesn't mean it should exist when conditions do not require it. In short no declaration of war then no draft.
Our government needs to stop trying to regulate charities of all origins and allow volunteers and agencies or organizations to function unharassed. The ones providing things like free medical care etc should be exempted from litigation. The one receiving such services waiving litigation rights.
Ordinarily I would agree, but if perpetual war is the new normal, then we must all share in the sacrifice, including a dedicated war tax. Then we’ll find out how important this stuff is to the American people.
“...tax breaks, tuition, funding for housing or tools or business start up costs.”
I’m sure none of that has been ruled out.
I am thinking of the young people I know around here who spend 2 years completely lost, sitting around doing dope, goofing off or getting in trouble. They enroll in school to party then flunk out because they are not mature enough to take responsibility for themselves. They are too young and too spoiled to care. I really is a costly lesson to their parents.
It is truly misspend youth and a couple short years of (I am sure) handsomely rewarded service will do a world of good.
North Korea requires ten years of servitude for its state run logging business.
Another reason to dislike McCain as well as Obama.
Maybe someday a candidate will show up who actually believes in liberty, rather than the state.
To be honest, I wouldn’t mind us having something along the lines of Switzerland’s militias, though more to get a majority of people trained in armed defense than “national service”. After all, Switzerland did retain her neutrality in both World Wars without an actual military.
Unfortunately, given our government’s habit of sending our boys into third world cesspools and crippling them with idiotic rules of engagement, it would eventually become the very thing I despise.
Sometimes, as in this case, the old kook is right.
...
Yep. It’s servitude any way you look at it. The Ruling Class wants us to work for free for their benefit.
And Ron Paul is an old kook most of the time.
Enforced servitude is wrong except if America is under attack.
If we are under attack it would be too late to start the draft.
Service whether military or civilian should not be mandatory, especially military.
Draftees in combat will get you killed. They don’t want to be there; they don’t follow orders well and they are the source of most of the problems.
I a foxhole or on patrol, I want someone who volunteered to be next to me. The draftee will be high on dope or alcohol and you don’t need someone you have to babysit for.
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