End The Draft!
Goldwater, Barry
END THE DRAFT! By Barry Goldwater There should no longer be any confusion about the liberal, radical and conservative positions on the draft. Liberals favor it but either want to make it...
...This percentage is scheduled to decline still further as the youngsters bom in the postwar baby boom come of age...
...This line-up is of deep concern to anyone who recognizes the increased political importance of Americans under 25...
...The Secretary of Defense, meantime, in keeping with his general efforts to turn the military into a political tool, wants to use the draft to "rehabilitate underprivileged" youths...
...The first speech of my 1964 campaign, for instance, pledged an end to the draft...
...What we need, and what conservatives back to the hilt, is a fully professional military service, paid well enough to attract all the men needed and so managed that they will want to remain on their job...
...The essence of freedom, and the essence between the compulsion of the liberal position and the voluntary nature of the conservative position is to be found in this draft situation...
...Conservatives want to end the draft—period...
...Hence, some method of "selective service" — of deciding which young man should serve and which two or three should not — is inevitable...
...The disadvantages of our present system of compulsion and the advantages of a voluntary army are so widely recognized that we can deal with them very briefly (section 1...
...They are just against the fact, it seems to me, that the compulsion in this case is being used as part of an effort against their current heroes, the Viet Cong...
...I can hear the liberals and radicals screaming that this would mean an army of mercenaries...
...It seems to me that every young American should consider it carefully before he takes a political side...
...They are not against compulsion...
...The conservative position is based solidly upon the notion that man's most fundamental right and responsibility is to live his own life...
...If free men think enough of their freedom, there should be no question about their desire voluntarily to fight for it or about the ability of those who do not fight to pay them a good and ample wage for shouldering the task...
...At most, something like one-third will have seen military service by the time they reach age 26...
...Manning our military forces currently requires the services of only a minority of young men...
...Two Worlds Between the liberal and conservative positions lies the world of difference that marks the two philosophies...
...The more puzzling question is why we have continued to use compulsion...
...The natural tendency of an administrator of a large, complex, and ongoing 3...
...And representatives of all parts of the political spectrum have urged that conscription be abolished — including John K. Galbraith and Barry Goldwater...
...The draft is an inefficient way to get and train men in this day of highly technological warfare, where even a foot soldier is a highly skilled man who must have long, careful training...
...But even more, the answer is the tyranny of the status quo...
...And isn't that the direct opposite of an authoritarian society...
...Even most supporters of a draft like the present one regard it as at best a necessary evil...
...Many of them attach themselves to political parties or causes without actually understanding what they stand for...
...Radicals want to end it or turn it to social service...
...On this point there is wide agreement...
...Isn't a doctor a mercenary...
...They do not want to extend it to any other form of service...
...They sympathize with the aims of the system, but they cannot and do not sympathize with the method, no matter its motive...
...However, the present method is inequitable, wasteful, and inconsistent with a free society...
...The liberal position is based solidly upon the notion that every form of compulsion and every sacrifice of the individual may be justified and demanded in the name of "society...
...the New Left and the Republican Ripon Society...
...The draft position is a clear and comprehensive case in point...
...Isn't the heart of a free society the "mercenary" notion that men may hire one another to do jobs in a free exchange...
...Fortunately, the military considerations of this argument may easily be resolved...
...THE CASE FOR A VOLUNTEER ARMY By Milton Friedman An eminent economist shows why a voluntary army not only is more consistent with a free society than conscription, but makes better economic sense...
...Just think about it...
...The answer is partly inertia — a carryover from a total war situation when the case for a voluntary army is far weaker (section 2...
...Public hearings in the past few weeks have seen conservative philosophers, such as Milton Friedman, speaking against the draft while liberal politicians, such as Edward Kennedy, have argued for a "lottery" as opposed to the present system...
...Liberals favor it but either want to make it random in its selection or extend it to social as well as military service...
...Isn't a welder who is hired for a special job...
Vol. 1 • September 1967 • No. 1
