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Poll
Conscription is right for America
Yes 10%
I am a pinko communist anti-american 90%

Votes: 20

 Conscription: the return of American values

 Author:  Topic:  Posted:
Jul 24, 2001
 Comments:

After watching Spielberg's masterpiece Saving Michael Ryan, I mused upon the decline of the values potrayed in the film in present day America. Self-sacrifice, respect for authority, duty, comradeship, family values and patriotism are no longer regarded as 'cool' as they say in modern parlance. Instead a nasty miasma of cappuccino liberalism and gay sexuality seem to be replacing these values, and are leading to disasters like the Democrats controlling the Senate thereby pushing their communistic schemes on the American people.

Fortunately help is at hand at the repository of American core values, the military.

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The American armed services are the best in world judging by recent engagements. The US military has always acted in an honorable way, and keeps to traditional values which are sadly lacking in today's young people.

Therefore I suggest that compulsory conscription of young men into the military would be of benefit to both the young men involved and the country as a whole. It gets disaffected youths off the street and into a dicisplined and God-fearing enviroment. It would teach them a trade and also would enable them to broaden their horizons via foreign travel. Also it would make them physically fitter which I am sure you would agree is needed in our country. The taxpayer would save on pay, enabling the US to spend money on other worthy schemes.

So how would we get fom this sad example of today's youth to this upstanding, God-fearing soldier. My solution would be that at 18, all young men would have to join the military, college students not excepted. They would undergo 6 months of training under the benign gaze of harsh but fair drill instructors. Then once trained they would remain 18 months with the military and stay a further 10 year as reservists. Thus we will have a large nucleus of fighting in case Red China decides to flex its muscles.

This compulsory conscription would also extend to criminals who would be formed into punishment battalions similar to those proposed by our Limey cousins. These would primarily engaged in walking across mine fields and other suicidal missions so they can redeem themselves through giving up their worthless lives for the greater glory of the almighty and the American nation.

Remember military life makes for upstanding individuals who respect the values and institutions of the USA. Serving your country should be compulsory part of a man's life which he can look back in pride.




Conscription (5.00 / 1) (#12)
by Filiberto on Tue Jul 24th, 2001 at 05:15:17 AM PST
Conscription is not a good idea for any free country. If you want to read about a system that would really work, read the book Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlen. His society is democratic, and military service is strictly voluntary, but you can only vote if you have served in the military. You cannot vote while you are in the military, and if you never serve, you have citizen's rights, but no voting rights or ability to hold public office. I think that type of system would be much better then conscription. Conscription would just be one more law for people to complain about and ignore if at all possible.


But then.. (5.00 / 1) (#13)
by Anonymous Reader on Tue Jul 24th, 2001 at 05:23:35 AM PST
The military is a device of the state that moulds men's minds in a very specific way. You might say state schools are like that, but at least they are reasonably independant and designed to give a round education, and nothing more.

The Army makes men into fighting machines, their minds are first deconstructed then remade in the image of the perfect, obedient soldier. You can always tell a man who has been in the army.

So under such a system there would be a feedback loop, where the state designs the electorate for its own purpose.

Ugh.


You're not thinking about today's military (5.00 / 1) (#16)
by Anonymous Reader on Tue Jul 24th, 2001 at 08:00:08 AM PST
> You can always tell a man who has been in the army.<p>

Yes, I know. :-P <p>

Just one thing I wanted to note, I don't think you are taking into account that the military has changed drastically from your father's generation. Then, there was the draft, today it is a volunteer force. <p>

That said, you're not giving the military enough credit for trying to create/encourage well rounded citizens. Take for example the military academies, who train most of the officers in each of the branches. The military academy education is not only military centric, but also citizen centric because many, many of those cadets, middies, and etc. will not stay in the military for their whole careers. (The academies are technically free, but require a 7 year commitment after graduation, after that, officers can seperate if they so choose.) <p>
Believe me, the best advocates the military could ever have are citizens who look after the military's interests, wether in the business world or on capitol hill.



Model citizens (5.00 / 3) (#19)
by finn on Tue Jul 24th, 2001 at 08:40:11 AM PST
He's a good citizen.

Idi Amin (Sandhurst), Sani Abacha (West Point), him.

Can't be arsed finding any more...

Military academies are just as likely to churn out maniacs as nice people, and these maniacs have been trained in doing silly things like kill people (or at least, to order someone else to kill people). And they are more likely to be in charge of the sort of organisation that can use them...
----------

No, Sani Abacha did not go to West Point (5.00 / 1) (#20)
by Anonymous Reader on Tue Jul 24th, 2001 at 09:10:18 AM PST
Trust me, I know a bit more about the school than you do. He did not attend USMA.

That said, I thought the topic was about wether American men should be conscripted.


Well... (5.00 / 2) (#23)
by finn on Wed Jul 25th, 2001 at 01:33:38 AM PST
That said, you're not giving the military enough credit for trying to create/encourage well rounded citizens. Take for example the military academies, who train most of the officers in each of the branches.

Just pointing out that they can fail.
----------

 
Will you have a Theban Band? (5.00 / 1) (#14)
by bc on Tue Jul 24th, 2001 at 05:31:57 AM PST
Homosexual men fighting in concert are a formidable force, for they truly love each other. How else did the Greeks stamp their military might upon the Med, and how else did the brave American revolutionary armies defeat the Redcoats?

One of the reasons for the decline of the modern army is the acceptance of women into the ranks. Destroys morale, as the men all see sculptures of feminine beauty they can't possibly touch. It drives them wild, wild with a warlike passion, but directed inwards in peacetime. Hardly healthy.

America should reject these invisible worms, and bring back more traditional soldiering.


♥, bc.

'English style love' (5.00 / 1) (#15)
by nobbystyles on Tue Jul 24th, 2001 at 05:38:29 AM PST
Is the reason that the UKians have never lost a war against the dreaded hun. A good public school education is therefore necessary for an officer...


 
Conscription gives men a common bond (5.00 / 1) (#17)
by Adam Rightmann on Tue Jul 24th, 2001 at 08:29:04 AM PST
At one time, decades ago, the draft served to give men a common bond cutting across race, creed and color lines. No matter what side of the tracks you lived on, you all learend and worked together in boot camp.

Nowadays, the majority of men never even serve, and our society is worse for it. There are an overwhelming number of young people who would be far better off if they had the opportunity to learn respect for their elders, respect for law, tradition and country, promptness and honesty at the hands of a tough but fair drill instructor. Once these proper values were inculcated in these youngsters, they would carry them into society at large, and America would be far better off. Do you doubt me? The draft ended in 1974, and American society's values have plummeted since.

Sadly, the fuzzy minded namby pampy leftist-controlled Media will probably have a field day with this idea, and the concept of millions of young men learning how to fire and field strip sidearms gives the New World Order considerable pause. So America descends deeper into a mediocre, sheeplike existence.


A. Rightmann

 
You want to reinstate conscription? (3.00 / 2) (#18)
by Anonymous Reader on Tue Jul 24th, 2001 at 08:39:30 AM PST
Being of good manners, my reply to "Dick" is: "after you" :)


 
America oh, america (none / 0) (#21)
by Husaria on Tue Jul 24th, 2001 at 02:38:05 PM PST
Not only that, but apparently, its un-PC to have American values. I was called a gun-toting nut, because I wore an old navy flag shirt after a bunch of Jehovah's witnesses stopped on my doorstep.
I guess its not right to display our country's colors.
No wonder our generation gets bitched out so much
Sig sigger

Not quite (none / 0) (#24)
by dmg on Wed Jul 25th, 2001 at 10:23:32 AM PST
You see, its UN-PC to have the 'old' American values of freedom, gun ownership, and religion. It is quite acceptable to have the new American values of victimhood, liberalism, cultural relativism.<p>
America was respected in the world when she stood for Christianity, and Freedom. But the rot set in in the late '60s and early '70s when left wing views seemed to take over our nation.

time to give a Newtonian demonstration - of a bullet, its mass and its acceleration.
-- MC Hawking

 
St. Bill Hicks (1.00 / 1) (#22)
by sventhatcher on Tue Jul 24th, 2001 at 05:31:11 PM PST
To quote one of the patron saints of Discordians everywhere, the legendary ranter/comedia Bill Hicks. On the Military:
"Anyone dumb enough to serve in the military should be allowed in. That should be the only requirement. I don't care how many pushups you can do. Put on this helmet, go wait in that foxhole. We'll tell you when we need you to kill somebody."
On objections over Gays in the Military:
"Excuse me, aren't ya'll hired killers? You're thugs. And when we need you to blow the fuck out of a nation of little brown people, we'll let you know."

"Is that a village full of children? Where's the napalm? I don't want any gay people around me when I'm killing kids."
On the Function of the Military:
"And don't tell me the millitary protects our freedom because ladies and gentlemen no one's a fuck'n threat to us. Oh wait I'm of course talking only about the places we don't arm first. OK They might be scary for about a day. We give them the old weapons and use the new ones on them. Iraq sure found that out. 'We have the scud' 'We have the patriot! The scud times two!' Fucks. We've got new shit now!"
Enjoy.

--Sven (now with bonus weblog vanity site! (MLP sold seperately))

 
This system is already being used (none / 0) (#25)
by Anonymous Reader on Wed Aug 1st, 2001 at 05:56:40 AM PST
The system above is already used in some parts of the world. The germans have a system where all 18 year olds are required to spend a period of time (approx. a year) in the service of the country. In their system however, concientious objectors can decline millitary service in exchange for civil service. However, I personally think that this fails in that it is for men only, women are excluded from this requirement. I believe that the Swiss also have a simmilar system, but dont quote me on that.


 

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