Being Thomas Luongo

Homespun Symposium XII: Justifying Slavery via the Draft

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This week's Homespun Symposium is a question whose naked insanity speak for itself:

During last year's presidential election, some people began talking about reinstating the draft. Most conservatives, such as myself, simply saw it as an effort on the part of liberals to distance young people from Bush. Many conservatives have responded to the issue by insisting that there won't be a draft. Yet, I think another question deserves consideration. Do we have the right to insist and expect that the war against terror will not require a draft? The draft was an important element in the winning of the first two World Wars. The war on terror is another global war. What gives our generation the right to expect to abstain from the same duty our grandfathers and forefathers were called to?

I say insane for any number of reasons. First of which, did the author of this question mean it to be rhetorical? This is not a joke, nor am I being glib. Because its tone and underlying assumptions/presumptions cut off any number of points of view that render the question irrelevant. The right answer, according to the question is bound up in the question itself. Honestly, this is less of an opening for discourse than a rebuke of anyone who disagrees with it. Does the author routinely open up discussions with, "You suck! Why do you think you have the right to suck?" I've been noticing this trend in these Sympopsiums and it's beginning to irk me a lot. Are the question writers here so ideologically blind as to not understand basic intellectual honesty? The Redhunter's question last week was almost as bad as The Southern Conservative's is this week. A little less back-slapping and a little more intellectual rigor might make these worth someone's time to read. Ok, enough complaining. I'm going to attempt a rebuttal at what the question meant to ask, but in fact did not ask. The answer is that yes we have a right not to be drafted, both because individuals are sovereign, regardless of what the courts say, and because of the 13th Amendment, which the draft is in direct conflict with. I thought we outlawed Involuntary Servitude in this country. So why does any of our citizens think they have the right to believe anyone should be forced to serve their wishes using the Federal Government as their proxy? Or am I just being all Anti-Liberty again? Of course we have a right to not be drafted by our government. Let's turn the question around? For what duty were our forefathers called? The answer, is, like everything else, personal. For the question-writer I think I can safely assume that he thought their duty was protecting their families. For me, they were called to further the enslavement of millions of people into one sect of socialism as opposed to the other. So, with that duty in mind, I do expect to abstain from such an honor and privelege. I won't even get into the history implied by the question and how our involvement in WWI created the conditions for WWII. Let's also not forget that Germany was in no way ever going to be able to invade America. But, you know, in a democracy voices that aren't strong enough get crushed by the jack-boots of war. Hmmm.... sounds like real freedom to me, no wonder the Iraqis don't want it. Ta,

posted by Tom L @ 2/09/2005 01:46:00 PM