Conscription

Now that I'm 18 one thing that has been on my mind quite a bit is military service. Now personally I have no desire to enlist, but what if I didn't have a choice? Conscription is defined as "compulsory enrollment of persons especially for military service (1)." Around 30 major nations practice conscription including Egypt, Israel, and Russia (2). The idea of conscription dates all the way back to Hammurabi in 1700 B.C. and has existed in some form or another since then. Here in America we have instituted the draft several times (The Civil War, WWI, Viet Nam etc.). I know several people, however, who would like to see universal conscription implemented here.

I disagree with the idea of conscription for several reasons. First and foremost is the problem of discipline and the quality of the troops. A well disciplined, well trained military force is necessary for the national security, and also general defense of any nation. However, it is also true that the larger the standing military force is the harder it becomes to control the troops. Especially with no unifying ideal to hold the troops together. The reason the draft worked in WWII was because pretty much everybody wanted to defeat the Nazi's and the Japanese. The reason the draft didn't really work in Viet Nam (more draft dodger's) was because not many people actually supported the war. This lack of unity leads to more discipline problems, because if you don't believe in the war being fought why fight to the best of your ability? For a larger military you also need a larger number of officers for management of tactics, and training etc. Then there's the question of just how well trained the forces are and how you measure things. In my experience the larger an operation like this gets the more likely it becomes that corners will be cut which in respect to the military seems like a really bad idea.

One must also consider the economics of conscription. When we force a large number of people into the armed forces we remove the possibility of them getting jobs and being productive. This is especially harmful as in most conscription policies it's the youngest and fittest men and women who get drafted. Then you have to factor in the cost of training and supplying these troops, and it becomes clear that this isn't a very economical system (3). Next we should consider the psychological effects of giving military training to a large percentage of the population. Not every soldier reacts well to the psychological conditioning involved in basic military training, not everyone is built for it. I believe that if we begin training larger and larger numbers of people then the number of cases of violence, and mental breakdowns will also grow. Finally, I'd like to touch on the topic of human rights. It's hard for me to compare conscription to slavery, because of the history of the word all around the world. However, I feel that the comparison is not necessarily inaccurate. By telling the citizen that they have to serve in the military the nation is basically taking away any pretense of freedom, and I just cannot on any level agree with a system which does such a thing.

Finally I'd like to end with a quote from one of my favorite authors of all time:

"No state has an inherent right to survive through conscript troops and, in the long run, no state ever has. Roman matrons used to say to their sons: "Come back with your shield, or on it." Later on, this custom declined. So did Rome. — Robert A. Heinlein" (4)