Let's Bring Back The Draft

Over the last 45 years, I have observed the erosion of national unity, the trashing of moral and ethical models, and other disturbing encroachments on “Americanism.” Those of us who were blessed to enter adult society in the ‘60’s and before have an entirely different vision of government, politics and democracy than those who have arrived later. Why?

Well, there was the entry of radically different liberal thinking and teaching into the educational system, beginning with University of California in Berkeley. But, I don’t honestly believe that one institution of higher learning could be solely responsible for the erosions I have witnessed in these years. There must be something more to it.

Rock music? Perhaps the introduction of sex, violence and drugs into the music scene is to blame? Certainly it had an influence. Yet, that factor alone could not have broken down our strong republic foundations upon which this country was established. Maybe the degradation of morals and judgment of our national idols…. Hollywood, Washington, television shows…. Once again, I dismiss that element alone as being unable to cause our ideals to crumble as they have.

When I engage in conversations with my peers, which is rare because most of them are either dead or in jail, I am readily able to draw the line between those who think as I do that we’re in a big crisis, and those who believe that we who feel the way we do are dinosaurs and too damned conservative to be relevant. I don’t consider myself to be conservative, however. Independent, yes. I’ll cross a party line in a heartbeat to vote for the better candidate. There are a lot of “liberal” ideas that I agree with.

If being Patriotic however, means being a conservative, then I am just about as conservative as they come.

So, what’s wrong with being a patriot?

What’s wrong with saying that we have no right to grant citizenship or amnesty to someone who crosses our borders illegally and won’t speak our language or learn our laws and history? What’s wrong with insisting that, if you do drugs and it’s against the law, you’re going to jail whether you’re a movie star or not? In California, about a month after 9/11, they arrested construction workers for displaying an American flag on a freeway overpass. Why? For making a political statement on public property.

By and large, those who subscribe to that philosophy never served in the American military. By the same token, most of us who become outraged at what we see our country doing today did serve in the military. We stood ready to lay down our lives to protect the freedom and the values that our forefathers gave their lives for.

There’s not a country around today, no matter how many arms they have, no matter how much power they wield, that would not think at least twice, or maybe a dozen times, before tackling Israel. Why is that? Because every man, woman and child in Israel serves a tour in the military. Does Israel have a strong sense of patriotism and nationalism? Yes, no question. Will they put up with any bull? Not much.

The American draft ended in 1973. That is, coincidentally, just about the time that patriotism in our country started to exhibit its downhill slide. That’s about the time that every tin-horn country started thumbing their noses at us and our national crime rate started to go precipitously up.

War is ugly. When you are at war, you must be willing to put everything you have at risk in order to win. Otherwise, the war is not worth fighting. When you put a gun in a young man’s hand and tell him to go fight the war, but don’t do this, don’t do that…. “If you get killed, we’ll be very sad, but if you kill one of the enemy we’re going to seriously investigate your ass…” You’re not fighting a war. It’s a charade. Don’t use this bomb or that tank.

War is not a fancy game of polo. People get killed in wars. “Political correctness” and war are diametrically opposed terms. Either you have war, or you have peace. The best advantage to have in a war is trained, patriotic and loyal men and women willing to make the ultimate sacrifice in order to win.

When war is over, those who fought don’t want to go back. So, they are willing to be far more vigilant and protective of their country and its way of life during peacetime. They will not allow the wearing away of their national traditions or the foundations upon which their country was built. And, the enemy is much less likely to want to tangle with them, because their trained, they’re patriotic, and they mean business.

So, there it is. That’s my argument. We need to bring back the draft. When you graduate from high school, you have five choices: (1) Go on to college and maintain a 2.5 GPA, (2) serve a mission for your church, (3) serve a mission with the Peace Corps or similar organization, (4) join the branch of military branch of your choice, or (5) be subjected to the draft into the army. It makes no difference whether you are male or female, rich or poor, black or white.

I think that’s the proactive way to deal with the issue. Let’s stop this tearing away at the fabrics of our society. Let’s make the terrorists think twice about invading our country and pulling off another 9/11. Let’s rebuild our national pride and sense of unity. Let’s quit blaming every one else for our national woes and grab the bull by the horns.

Let’s bring back the draft.