Conscription
Time Magazine has an article about a man who was drafted for Vietnam in 1972 and is still serving in the U.S. Military today. No, he wasn't drafted for a 40 year tour; after his two years were up he volunteered to stay in the military as a ranger.
They talk a bit about conscription and how some years back there was a push to reinstate the draft. This wisened old soldier says this is a bad idea; because with a volunteer force you have people who want to be there fighting and will do a good job.
This is not the point. The reason for mandatory service is to keep "the people" from supporting random wars started by our president for personal reasons. If the military is filled with a random cross section of American citizens; it's very unlikely that the populace will allow the leaders to start wars unless they are extremely necessary. But as it stands; the military is full mostly of poor people, and we don't care about them. Besides, they volunteered for that job; so I say LET EM HAVE IT!
They talk a bit about conscription and how some years back there was a push to reinstate the draft. This wisened old soldier says this is a bad idea; because with a volunteer force you have people who want to be there fighting and will do a good job.
This is not the point. The reason for mandatory service is to keep "the people" from supporting random wars started by our president for personal reasons. If the military is filled with a random cross section of American citizens; it's very unlikely that the populace will allow the leaders to start wars unless they are extremely necessary. But as it stands; the military is full mostly of poor people, and we don't care about them. Besides, they volunteered for that job; so I say LET EM HAVE IT!