Present day schemes for drafting men for military service are wrongheaded. It is better to have professional armed forces made up of free citizens who chose to join up. There may be times such as 1941-1945 when a draft is necessary to save the country, but we are not in or close to a situation like that now. Drafting people to perform “s…
Present day schemes for drafting men for military service are wrongheaded. It is better to have professional armed forces made up of free citizens who chose to join up. There may be times such as 1941-1945 when a draft is necessary to save the country, but we are not in or close to a situation like that now. Drafting people to perform “service” in civilian labor gangs always should be forbidden. The correct name for it is forced labor, and it is a characteristic of authoritarian and totalitarian regimes, not free societies. It is also involuntary servitude, and some of us may recall that we have an amendment that says something about that.
Present day schemes for drafting men for military service are wrongheaded. It is better to have professional armed forces made up of free citizens who chose to join up. There may be times such as 1941-1945 when a draft is necessary to save the country, but we are not in or close to a situation like that now. Drafting people to perform “service” in civilian labor gangs always should be forbidden. The correct name for it is forced labor, and it is a characteristic of authoritarian and totalitarian regimes, not free societies. It is also involuntary servitude, and some of us may recall that we have an amendment that says something about that.