Reinstate the Draft

Yesterday I talked about the war we are involved in in Yemen, and how we really shouldn't be. Beyond that though, you may not realize that we are involved in six wars in the middle east currently. In Libya, Somalia, Yemen, Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan. Not all those wars are superfluous or unnecessary, but there is very little public awareness and therefore scrutiny of those actions.

I propose that we reinstate the the draft. Not at a high level, maybe keep it at a level to provide 10% of the military strength or so. But enough that most people would know of someone who was drafted.

Why you ask?

1. We have been involved in wars all but two years since 1978. The fact that we have been able to sustain that level of involvement for so long is impressive. But having a reliable source of military strength would be helpful.
2. Increasing the diversity of the military (or any organization) often results in a stronger product. Including perspectives outside of the ones that naturally occur from people purposefully choosing the military would widen the organizations awareness of the world.
3. Most importantly though, when the population as a whole knows that they could be on the hook to fight they are going to care a lot more about where and when we get involved in wars. It would contribute to a heightened awareness of our foreign policy and global awareness in general.

There are certainly downsides. I don't want to get drafted. I don't want my kids to either. But we are citizens of these United States and as such we NEED to be on the hook and have responsibilities that come from being citizens. As citizens we NEED to pay taxes so we care about what the government spends its money on. We NEED to be on juries so we care about the judicial system and justice. We NEED to be up for the draft so we care about how our nation operates in the world at large.

If you don't have skin in the game you aren't going to care, and some things need to be cared about.