my Define your idea Last month’s article:Drafting is still a bad ideaIn “The American People’s Congress,” I argued against traditional conscription as a means of securing a military force. A related proposal is for universal conscription, which would allow young men and women the choice between military and civilian service.
This kind of conscription is also a bad idea. Some of the arguments against such conscription are the same as those against military conscription. The distinctive features of universal conscription raise other problems as well. As I will show, the bottom line is that universal conscription is even more opposed than limited military conscription. Universal conscription, like military conscription, violates young people’s freedom to choose their careers and takes no account of the losses these young people would suffer. Moreover, universal conscription would, by definition, take away more of young people’s freedom than military conscription. And, as some in the military recognize, universal conscription could make it more difficult for the military to secure the quantity of high-quality entry-level personnel it desires.
These are the opening lines of my latest article for the Hoover Institution:Compulsory National Service: Worse than Conscription“, Define your ideaAugust 2, 2024.
Another excerpt:
William James was not the only one to propose tough measures for young people. At the famous December 1966 draft conference, which attendee Milton Friedman considered a turning point in opposition to conscription, the eminent anthropologist Margaret Mead argued for conscription of women as well as men. She recognized that women faced a unique problem that men did not: they could become pregnant. (It is unfortunate that Mead never had a chance to explain this to Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who, during his confirmation hearing, Said She is not a biologist and therefore cannot give a definition of woman.Margaret Mead, an anthropologist rather than a biologist, had no such difficulty.
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