The Draft as Malady
Wingate, Jerry
The Draft as Malady Mastering the Draft, by Andrew O. Shapiro and John M. Striker. Little, Brown. 626 pp. $15. The End of the Draft, by Thomas Reeves and Karl Hess. Prefaces by Senators Mark O....
...The most important sections for young men—those dealing with deferments—should be used only with competent counseling...
...The most noticeable shortcoming of the book is the final chapter, "What the People Can Do...
...The question of individual freedom is not only crucial to retaining our human values, but to life itself— all life...
...This point is well made in the prefaces by Senators Mark O. Hatfield and George McGovern, who are both quick to point out that they do not entirely agree with the political philosophy of the authors, but that they all recognize this one point and the dynamics of its ramifications...
...The "threat" of their analysis will conjure demons in the minds of "law and order" fanatics...
...Random House...
...Were The End of the Draft a theoretical projection (which it is in a way that is not implied in the title), I might be less frustrated in looking at Mastering the Draft, produced by Andrew O. Shapiro and John M. Striker...
...Their conclusion will invoke anger from many...
...The draft, Reeves and Hess argue, is a terrible symptom of the all-powerful nation-state that demands complete and blind loyalty: ". . . the question behind it: the nature of the state, the nature of citizenship, and the meaning of liberty in a land which has been said to have been conceived in it, but where the definition itself is a matter contended not only in the courts but on the streets...
...thus the Federalist doctrine set limits on individual freedom in the Bill of Rights rather than assuring that the power of the state was limited by the people...
...By the time the printed product hit the bookstands, many portions read like the Code of Hammurabi...
...And yet, at the same time, the interests of the state are perpetuating the power-property-bureaucracy institution that is the state...
...Reviewed by Jerry Wingate ri^hese two books are an ironic pair to review...
...6.95...
...His political views have changed considerably since those days...
...Much of what Reeves and Hess infer, of course, is highly controversial...
...I sincerely feel for these two gentlemen who put an enormous amount of research and labor into this monumental volume, which most observers (both inside and outside of the Selective Service System) predict will be obsolete in the near future because of the demise of the draft...
...Prefaces by Senators Mark O. Hatfield and George McGovern...
...And the authors contend that the acceptance of this power is based on the myth that danger—that is, "national security"—can be overcome only by magical forces, the mysterious power of the nation-state...
...The entire draft structure has been in a constant state of flux for the past several years because of the objections of its victims and the scrutiny of the courts...
...But the latter should read The End of the Draft and react to its truths...
...For those who have been actively working against conscription—or, as Karl Hess calls it, "confiscation"— this book is a primer for future political activity...
...Today, the state has at its command inconceivable industry and technology...
...The first choice seems the more appropriate to me after studying the book...
...200 pp...
...On the other hand, The End of the Draft by Thomas Reeves and Karl Hess is a thoughtfully—and thankfully—biased analysis of the draft as a symptom of social malady as opposed to being an end in itself...
...The End of the Draft is truly a social thesis warning of the nation-state's threat to survival...
...In particular, what the questions of the confiscation of lives and the enhancement of property bring to mind is the terrifying possibility that all of the past sacrifices were made for a thing so valueless that people who thought they were free didn't care voluntarily to defend it...
...The confiscation of lives is the final step in the absolute assertion of state power...
...The ultimate power and infringement on individual freedom by the state is the confiscation of the lives of its citizens...
...This, the authors suggest, began when the reality of individual freedom (as beautifully outlined in the^ Declaration of Independence) frightened the industrial productivity freaks such as Alexander Hamilton...
...He was special consultant to President Eisenhower on foreign affairs, was one of the writers of the 1960 Republican Platform, and was a speechwriter for Senator Barry Gold-water from 1963-65...
...But the authors chose the latter method and dealt with it somewhat inadequately...
...Karl Hess questions, ". . . why should men who want to be free accept the formation of a national state that simply seeks to be great, and which specifically defines that greatness in terms of factories and the armies needed to guard them in a quarrelsome world...
...By the time Mastering the Draft was completed, entire sections were outdated...
...Thomas Reeves, an ordained Methodist minister, has for some time served as the able and dedicated director of the National Council to Repeal the Draft...
...However, the book is a thorough reference guide, and most of the procedural structure remains intact...
...This was the question of the day in 1776...
...After reading such a clear analysis, one might expect to be left with either a charge to draw obvious conclusions individually or to be presented with a thorough action proposal...
...Karl Hess is a contributing editor of Ramparts magazine with an impressive educational and political background...
...The real question here is the value of the individual and whether the state will regulate individual freedom, or whether people (with a true sense of their own freedom) will delegate certain powers to the state...
...The End of the Draft deserves to be widely read...
Vol. 35 • January 1971 • No. 1
