Wednesday, June 26, 2024

The Draft: Slavery Re-Imposed

As the great Murray Rothbard puts it in For a New Liberty, "Surely, for one example, there can be no more blatant case of involuntary servitude than our entire system of conscription. Every youth is forced to register with the selective service system when he turns eighteen. He is compelled to carry his draft card at all times, and, at whatever time the federal government deems fit, he is seized by the authorities and inducted into the armed forces. There his body and will are no longer his own; he is subject to the dictates of the government; and he can be forced to kill and to place his own life in jeopardy if the authorities so decree. What else is involuntary servitude if not the draft?".

"If we rely on completely voluntary armed services, the why would people volunteer if we were engaged in war? True enough, people join the military now. But most of them don't expect to fight, and for many in the military being deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq was an unwelcome surprise." In fact, as Murray pointed out, our so-called "Volunteer" military isn't genuinely voluntary.

You can't say, "I don't want to fight-I'm out!" The "Volunteer" army we have now is still slavery, albeit one that doesn't include all men of military age, but only those who enlist.

Suppose we are engaged in a war and a young man of military age supports the war.

" Here is a sample of what is being done now, taken from a speech by Thomas Spoehr:" Wokeness in the military is being imposed by elected and appointed leaders in the White House, Congress, and the Pentagon who have little understanding of the purpose, character, traditions, and requirements of the institution they are trying to change.

Unless the policies that flow from it are illegal or directly jeopardize readiness, senior military leaders have little alternative but to comply.

These indoctrination programs differentiate service members along racial and gender lines, which runs completely counter to the military imperative to build cohesiveness based on common loyalties, training, and standards. 

https://mises.org/mises-wire/draft-slavery-re-imposed

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