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Mandatory military service?

Would you support a mandatory service when a person turns 21 or 18?


  • Total voters
    88
I could possibly support mandatory military training (like a 6 week training thing) and then going home. I don't support mandatory service though.

I answered "yes", but this is closer to my position. If you're an adult and fit to hold a rifle, you're part of the militia and you should be trained accordingly.

Personally, I think such training should occur in the welfare schools, with programs to offer it to private- and home-schooled children.

:kitty:
 
It would force a lot more - but not all.

- They'll have the Right To Vote & Social Security


I think if you are physically able and refuse to serve, you shouldn't have the right to vote. voting should be a priviledge that is earned, not a right bestowed. maybe then people would actually put some real effort into learning about politics instead of just voting along party lines.
 
I've always liked the idea of doing a minimum amount of military service to vote and/or hold political office. I would include a civil service exception for people, especially those who legitimately cannot do military service but it would take more time in civil service work than if they joined the military. Although I'm not sure what exactly I would include as part of civil service, it would have to be something that actually benefits society such as teaching/tutoring, health care, law enforcement, fire fighting, or massive hours of specific volunteer time. I would say military time of about 2 years (civil service time of around 3-4 years) would be enough. There would have to be some way to ensure that everyone didn't just join the Navy, AF, or CG, but I would guess the best way is to base entry more into those particular branches more on aptitude tests than personal preference.

I do agree with having some military type training in high school, including gun safety and self defense classes.
 
good point. then we could give them all a sense of humility by having them work for the IRS.

That would give them a sense of entitlement!
 
CP, thank you for your service. I can't disagree, really. After 9/11, enlistment %'s were so far up that there was some concern, if I remember correctly, that young men were making rash decisions to enlist for the "wrong reasons."

as i recall, though, enlistment numbers didn't jump that much. the services expanded somewhat, but Not My Son-ism is strong in our culture today. :(

I also completely believe you when you say you wish you were in Afghanistan so you could help. I know that there's a real and beautiful, if you will, camaraderie that happens with our troops.

that is absolutely true; a camraderie that i fear would be degraded in a draft military. the Marines in particular take great pride in being volunteers; it's part of our culture that we all want to be here, to be Marines.

Not victims. I just think that an awful lot of our military never expected to be involved in the kind of war we're fighting. Or any war.

we've been at war almost a decade now. there is not a single individual in the military who did not enlist or reenlist (or pick up a commission) in wartime; if they never expected to be in a war then they probably wouldn't pass the ASVAB.

and the kind of war we are fighting now is actually the norm. it's the big kinetic linear formations of massed troops crashing into each other that are the historical comparitive rarity.

I can't argue with you on history. You're right. It hasn't been fair -- no more evident than in the Viet Nam war. But the draft I envision would be a fair one - for men and women alike.

:) while we're at it let's envision a world in which politicians are honest and bureaucracies efficient. the rich and educated will always avoid the draft for the same reason that the upper middle class will take greater advantage of government benefits; because they have the ability to.

As to your last sentence, there is no one willing to kill their own children for victory.

i would be willing to send my sons to war, if necessary to die, in order to achieve victory in the War on Terror. All men die; some get to die for something. but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't minimize casualties, which leads me to my next point...

I see a draft's benefits as being far beyond making war.

but making war is what the military does. and a draft military does it less efficiently than a volunteer one does. and the result of loss of combat efficiency is dead people.
 
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There's a fairness about a draft. And a certain benefit that our armed forces perform for us when they turn boys into men, combat aside.

Hilarious, especially coming from a female.

There is nothing fair about a draft. Nothing. That's not freedom. If a draft were to be implemented, you better effing believe women would be drafted, too. You girls love to bray about equality and all.

Title 9 is a disgrace.
 
I've always liked the idea of doing a minimum amount of military service to vote and/or hold political office

ever read Starship Troopers? :)


so much better than that embarrasment of a movie.

I do agree with having some military type training in high school, including gun safety and self defense classes.

imo, we need to have gun operaters liscence the same as drivers liscences, with similar training programs.
 
Hilarious, especially coming from a female.

There is nothing fair about a draft. Nothing. That's not freedom. If a draft were to be implemented, you better effing believe women would be drafted, too. You girls love to bray about equality and all.

Title 9 is a disgrace.

Maggie didn't say anything about excluding women from a draft. How about you ask her about with she thinks about that before you shove words down her throat?
 
Hilarious, especially coming from a female.

There is nothing fair about a draft. Nothing. That's not freedom. If a draft were to be implemented, you better effing believe women would be drafted, too. You girls love to bray about equality and all.

Title 9 is a disgrace.

Glad I could entertain you, Spruce. If everyone had to serve, it would be fair. Since it's never been fair, let's not even consider it could be. Bray about equality? You're giving away your age.
 
No, I shouldn't be forced to fight for my country, unless I feel it is worth fighting for.

WHile I haven't been in the army, from what I understand, comradery is what compels soldiers to fight. While there are a fair amount of patriots, this bond holds units together. So, theoretically, you just need to develop these bonds.
 
Besides, this country is in the crapper anyway. Not sure why I'd want to fight for it. So more dumbasses could vote for more dumbasses like Pelosi and Obama to steal our money?
 
Maggie didn't say anything about excluding women from a draft. How about you ask her about with she thinks about that before you shove words down her throat?

Thank you, Repeter. From my post #14:

But the draft I envision would be a fair one - for men and women alike. As to your last sentence, there is no one willing to kill their own children for victory. I see a draft's benefits as being far beyond making war.
 
absolutley not. The last thing I would have wanted would be some d00d who didn't want to be there laying down cover fire for me....

They might not want to be there in the beginning, but don't you think their attitude would change by the end of training?
 
Besides, this country is in the crapper anyway. Not sure why I'd want to fight for it. So more dumbasses could vote for more dumbasses like Pelosi and Obama to steal our money?

Oh, never mind about the age thing. You're not as old as I thought you were. You know you don't have to be totally confrontational in order to get noticed as a newbie. Good solid posting'll get you there just as fast.
 
If we could introduce military service, or something comparative, where you earn the right to vote, I think that'd be great. Personally, I think too many people vote for a politican because he/she is a Republican, or a Democrat, or because of his/her ethnicity. What we need to do is make voting partially restricted, so not every laymen on the streets can vote. Previously, we had poll taxes, and ethnic barriers to voting. Now, we need either intellectual barriers (take a test to see if you actually know what issues a politican stands for) or requirement barriers (serve in the military).
 
Robert Heinlein said "No State has the moral right to survive through the use of conscripts.... and in the long run, no State ever has."

I agree with him, in the general sense.

There may be times, like WW2 for instance, where our nation's survival is at stake and large numbers of troops are needed, when it may be justified for a period of time - a few years.

But simply to suit someone's notion of "fairness"? For that reason we should take free people and compel them to serve under penalty of imprisonment? No.

Would a draft alleviate the shortage of officers? Maybe... but would you want your platoon leader to be an officer-draftee who didn't want to be there? Scary thought. Good officers are always scarce; making bad officers more plentiful won't really help.

My son is considering entering the military in a few years, when he finishes school. He is considering this choice knowing that we will probably be involved in combat operations somewhere; he intends to seek a combat-arms posting; he is aware that this means he will probably come under fire. I've explained to him what he's getting into as best I can, and he's still intrested.

I respect that. I respect it a whole lot more than the idea of forcing people into the military when there is no national-security need to do so, simply someone's notion of what is "fair" or "this'll be good for those young punks!". :roll:


As someone else said, I'd support 6 or 8 weeks of mandatory militia training (infantry basic) at age 18. That is far less onerous and burdensome, and the "unorganized militia", in the words of the Founders, "consists now of the whole of the people."
 
Keep your nose in your own business.

Go **** yourself.

Moderator's Warning:
Go **** yourself is not acceptible speech Upstairs. Since you are new I will make this a warning instead of an infraction. Remember the motto: civility is a must.
 
Previously, we had poll taxes, and ethnic barriers to voting. Now, we need either intellectual barriers (take a test to see if you actually know what issues a politican stands for) or requirement barriers (serve in the military).

You're a ****ing idiot.

Typical asshat donkey.

Wealth redistro. should be outlawed and myriad problems are solved.
 
Would you support a mandatory service when a person turns 21 or 18?

nope-it violates freedom and is a poor allocation of personnel resources.
 
Moderator's Warning:
Go **** yourself is not acceptible speech Upstairs. Since you are new I will make this a warning instead of an infraction. Remember the motto: civility is a must.

I'm not new, but I can tell you are going to be a whole Hell of a lot better mod than CC.

I mean that.
 
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