Animaniac Posted January 4, 2003 Share Posted January 4, 2003 (edited) http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...03/MN169142.DTL Putting aside the issue of the draft being completely illogical, this brings up the question of whether this level patriotism is justified/logical. The ideas of nations have changed significantly, and the necessity of patriotism has essentially vanished. The idea was created by the French who wanted to conscript soliders voluntairily; what better way than make the constiuency believe they hold a stake in their country? In the beginning, they actually did; however, in this day and age, with the professional solider being more vital than large numbers of troops, the government has become less dependent on the constituency. Voter turn out is low, elections are decided by money, and new political weapons such as R.I.P., revlation, investigation, and prosecution, have made the constituency next to obsolete with most of the battles taking place between branches and parties, and completely bypassing the citizenry. American democracy is making its last wheezing breaths, with a quasi-democracy even stronger in the future. So with that in mind, is patriotism really an admirable quality? Should it be expected? Should it be forced? Edited January 4, 2003 by Animaniac Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fotix Posted January 4, 2003 Share Posted January 4, 2003 Yeah... I don't think these congress critters expect this "draft" issue to go through at all. They are just trying to raise awareness about how a disproportionate number of low-income, minority people are serving in the military versus the number of upper-class, rich people serving in the military who would die in fighting. How many millionaire soldiers do you see versus the low-income bracket? Rich people don't fight, they now control the lower class into doing their bidding in a war. You don't see (bad example) Larry Ellison personally fighting al Qaeda in the desert, do you? It's basically the uber-rich ordering the way poorer soldiers to potentially die for them in war as it stands now. By reinstating the draft the some believe it would make the elite war-mongers change their minds if they had something big to lose (like a kid or themselves) on the battlefield. Take all of the arm-chair generals across the internet who support war here and war there. They have nothing to lose (yet), but if it were their butts on the line in a life or death war, you bet they would be changing their tune. While I understand the sentiment, I haven't made up my mind where I stand on this issue entirely yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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