Argues Joseph Epstein in The Atlantic. He was drafted during the Cold War and never saw combat. “Under the draft, the American social fabric would change—and, judging from my experience, for the better,” says Epstein. He says that he never felt “more American” than when he was in the Army. And here is a strange statement: “The reinstitution of the draft would make our country’s participation in this lengthy struggle not merely more just but possibly more efficient, by conscripting better-educated young people. It is time, I would argue, for a serious consideration of returning to compulsory military service in America.”
More just? An unjust war can never be made “more just” no matter who fights it. How about just ending all the foreign wars and occupations and reducing the need for people in the military. And by the way, the branches of the service have met their recruiting goals for the past ten or so years. Why would anyone argue in favor of the draft unless he had some other motive than staffing the military?
3:04 pm on January 1, 2015
