The human lottery: Reinstating the draft

By Brett Eversole
Van High School

The military draft, or conscription, is defined as selecting an individual for military duty without his or her expressed consent. The United States government last initiated the draft during the Vietnam War.

Since then, many debates have ensued over the issue of the draft. With the current war in Iraq, the possibility of the draft’s reinstatement has arisen.

George Washington said it best when he said, “Conscription must be laid down as a primary position and the basis of our (democratic) system, that every citizen who enjoys the protection of a free Government owes not only a proportion of his property, but even his personal service to the defense of it.”

Basically, ol’ George thought that if you wanted to have a free country, you should stand up for it if the time comes to do so.

The statement “freedom isn’t free” also applies here. Someone has to step up and make the sacrifice when another group threatens our democracy. If the military does not have enough participants, the government has no choice but to draft people to help.

But while many people support these statements and argue that the draft is necessary in times of crisis, there are just as many others who say that the draft is a violation of the very freedom we are promised by our country.

The Constitution grants us freedom through democracy. That freedom should also extend to military service, many would say. Dropping your entire life to go to war would seem to be unfair to those with different goals in mind for their futures.

“I would hate to be drafted. It would ruin my entire future because I would have to put my life on hold just to risk losing it in battle,” said Van junior Jeremy Smith. “I think there should be a draft aptitude test that includes mental ability as the core component, so someone without goals would go instead of those of us who have aspirations of a bright future.”

The issue of draft reinstatement is one that will greatly affect many high school students, whether they’re old enough to be drafted or have friends and family who are. For that reason, more young people should be aware of the impact conscription could have on their lives.