Off Topic (Important Legislation)

[olivierfouquet2000]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, Heidi Tandy <lists at h...> wrote:
> 
> On Sun, 12 Sep 2004 1:44pm, Marita Jan wrote:
> > I'll go with what may be an unpopular opinion, but I don't think 
> > mandatory
> military service is a bad idea.  I'd like to see men and women have to
> serve 2 years at the age of 18, with deferments for health reasons but 
> not
> just for college.  Sorry, the military needs educated persons as well.
> There's a reason some people in this country feel like wars are fought 
> on
> the backs of the poor while wealthier kids skip off to the safety of
> college, instead. 
> I think the Israeli army as a great example of mandatory service that
> works. 
> 
> 
> Well, Israel allows deferrments for college education. But besides that, =

> the myriad of problems with the idea of a compulsory draft for all 18 
> year olds are legion, some small, some larger:
> 
> 1. Health insurers would have to add on two years in which they allow 
> parents to insure their sons & daughters; now, that period generally 
> ends at 23, but a compulsory service would push college starts to 20 or 
> 21, so it would only be fair to lengthen this period as well.
> 
> 2. The education system in the us, on high school and college levels, 
> would be impacted. Instead of looking to high school references and test =

> scores by 16 and 17 year olds, they'd suddenly switch to 19 and 20, with =

> the primary recommendation coming from one's commanding officer. And 
> what about kids who graduate high school at 17, like I did? Would they 
> be left to twiddle their thumbs for 4, 6 or 9 months until they're 18, 
> and can start their army stint? Poor kids born in october or november - 
> they'd either have to wait almost a year after finishing service to 
> start college or colleges would have to change to allow more people to 
> start in january. And school on trimester systems would be totally 
> screwed up.
> 
> 3. We don't have the same socialized social services structure as israel =

> does; things like education and health care there are move 
> state-involved than they are in the us. Would we move to a similar, more =

> socialized structure in the us, or would teens and 20somethings be left 
> without services?
> 
> 4. We can't afford it. In Israel, the government structure, for over 55 
> years, has been based around being able to fund the army. If we drafted 
> every 18 year old, even the cost of food, hosuing and uniforms through 
> basic training would bankrupt the US, especially because all those 
> individuals would be pulled off the job market, and pretty much out of 
> the taxpaying zone, for two years. And the minute we start back with the =

> vietnam process of alowing some to not serve, we end up wiht the have- 
> and have-nots situation again.
> 
> Just some thoughts on a complex situation.
> 
> Heidi

Olivier:
I don't boast on being a military expert, quite the contrary actually, thou=
gh I have served 
for both the french and the US Army, but I for once think it is perfectly f=
easible to restore 
the draft in the US. Amongst the reasons stated by Heidi, I have the impres=
sion none really 
prevents conscription.

1) That sounds like a detail to me, but maybe I am not getting the larger p=
icture.

2) That's how it works or worked until very recently in Germany, and I see =
no particular 
problem with education or the economy there.

3) In fact, I am not even sure I understand that one. Usually, the Army pro=
vides health care 
for its employees. I guess that's the most sensible solution.

4) The question of affordability does not seem a serious problem at all, re=
ally. If Germany 
(or France until very recently) can afford to cloth and feed its conscript,=
 why couldn't the 
US? Besides, the cost of paying, clothing, housing and feeding conscript do=
es not strike 
me as particularly high in comparison to-say-the purchase of almost 300 F-2=
2 Raptor by 
the USAF. Let us introduce number quickly: I suppose there are approxiamtel=
y 2 million 
people aged 18 in the USA (based on US demographics). Suppose one soldier c=
osts 2000 
dollars a month. That's an excess of 24 billion dollars a year. Not immense=
 in comparison 
with the 400 billion dollars budget of the USA.

However, I am not saying I am in favor of this idea. On the contrary, as Ha=
ggrid pointed 
out, en masse warfare has no more military value nowadays. Besides, I am no=
t sure the 
social impact of this on the american society would be so positive. I would=
 be curious to 
know what young american would think about that.

Olivier