Conscription: yea or nay?

In my opinion when we are fighting a foriegn war we should have the draft in order to include all the citizenry rather then 1% who go to fight a foriegn war for a year, come home for 6 months, and go for another year over and over. If everyone was included there would be less support for foriegn wars.

We might lose the advantage of a professional military, but gain from losing what could be taken as a mercenary force.

In a war that simply cannot be avoided (most of them can) a draft may sometimes be necessary. In a very limited window, I accept that.

IMO, no. Citizens incur responsibilities from society and receive benefits. Obligatory service is no more a violation than being required to pay taxes or follow laws, provided it is evenly enforced.

Clearly that is based on the situation. Maintaining a full draft in peacetime may be counter productive. What would you do with an army that large? It would become boot camp for the purpose of having a boot camp.

Of course. Failure of the government has dramatic ramifications for its citizens. Rights are extended as a function of a working government. Take away the government and all those rights we so dearly love disappear. There is no natural law guaranteeing life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Hopefully, the direction of the government reflects the best interests and desires of its citizens. If those needs don't reflect the citizen's desires, it is their responsibility to change the governement. That said, the legitimate needs of the government take precedence over the wants of the citizens.

Yes. It's a form of indentured servitude and therefore violates people's natural right to liberty. I think America's constitutional law has it right when it demands that such violations be narrowly tailored to serve a compelling government interest. I don't see how obligatory service could pass this strict scrutiny, since America demonstrably can wage more wars than it should with the volunteer army it already has.


As a measure of last resort, if and when an all-voluntary army is demonstrably inadequate for defending the nation against foreign attacks. America's current dilemma, that the armed forces are are overextended because of America's wars of choice, doesn't nearly qualify.


I agree with the Declaration of Independence on this one: "Governments are instituted among men to secure these [inalienable] rights [that all humans are endowed with], deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. If, in a time of crisis, a government no longer wants to be in the business of securing human rights, it needs to leave the business of governing altogether.


In a word: nay.