US Military thoughts...

[ZuraX]

I have been really thinking about this a lot the last few years.

I think the USA should change to something like China has. I think everyone shoudl have to join the military from the age of 18(or as soon as they leave high school) until they are 21.

Why? Because look at the state of our kids now-a-days.. Joining the military would help set them straight. No more young adults out joining gangs, doing drugs, doing crimes, etc. I would change it one way though, if you were to get into the medical(doctor) or science field you would be allowed to not join.

 

[gamehouse]

It is called drafting. It used to be there and may not come back.
And for "kids getting out of control", there are other solutions.

Gamehouse

 

[ZuraX]

Drafting was for war time only right? I am talking full time....

 

[drifta]

the day that happens is the day half the US population moves to a new country

 

[ZuraX]

Well hopefully it would be the half thats lazy or here illegally.... lol

 

[armstrong]

Drafting is done in time of war, for deployment to a known area of conflict. What zurax proposes is "compulsory military service", which is done in peacetime, usually after highschool, and last a few years for each person. Usually, kids in the program have the option to go for non-military duties like medical missions, disaster relief, and education. Israel and Germany have such laws, which helps build civic responsibility, at least in theory.

 

[HHDomains]

I have been really thinking about this a lot the last few years.

I think the USA should change to something like China has. I think everyone shoudl have to join the military from the age of 18(or as soon as they leave high school) until they are 21.

Why? Because look at the state of our kids now-a-days.. Joining the military would help set them straight. No more young adults out joining gangs, doing drugs, doing crimes, etc. I would change it one way though, if you were to get into the medical(doctor) or science field you would be allowed to not join.

I agree 100%.
Mandatory military service is not, as some would suggest, equivalent to the draft.
A minimum military service of at least one year would do nothing but benefit the US. I think the same should go for Canada. The military teaches discipline and respect and that is badly lacking in society today.

My only caveat would be that it was mandatory for everyone and people who had money or political connections would not be exempt.

 

[ZuraX]

Wow HHDomains.. We agree on something! LMAO

 

[HHDomains]

Wow HHDomains.. We agree on something! LMAO

It was bound to happen eventually.
We are probably not that far apart in general. If people didn't disagree on some things who would ever talk to each other?

 

[brewmonkey]

I agree 100%.
Mandatory military service is not, as some would suggest, equivalent to the draft.
A minimum military service of at least one year would do nothing but benefit the US. I think the same should go for Canada. The military teaches discipline and respect and that is badly lacking in society today.

My only caveat would be that it was mandatory for everyone and people who had money or political connections would not be exempt.

You would also need to create a national service that would allow people who for some reason are not "fit" for military service so that all citizens would have the honor of serving their country.

Something along the lines of the Peace Corps but within our own borders. An organization such as that would make disaster relief much easier and quicker.

I also agree that everyone serves, there should be NO exceptions other then severe medical conditions. Money will not buy your way out, not like during the Civil War when $300 bought your way out of the draft or allowed you to select someone to serve in your stead.

I believe a national service call would also bring about more involvement from people in the way the country runs. It's floors me how many people are eligible to vote and how many do not. When you have dedicated a substantial portion of your life to it's service you have a clearly vested interest in participating.

 

[HHDomains]

It's floors me how many people are eligible to vote and how many do not.

That is a pet peeve of mine.
It amazes me how many people are content to sit back and bitch about their lives and bitch about their government but don't have the ambition to vote.

As far as I'm concerned, if you don't vote, you forfeit your right to complain about government.

 

[Humdizzy]

XD... I don't mean to offend, but you're crazy. Not all of the kids are out of control and a couple of out of control kids shouldn't ruin life for the good kids. Even if you get a choice to do a non military service I'm pretty sure you have to go to the country that the war is being fought in with just as many risks as soldiers. I'd rather take the jail time that would come with refusing to do any service. I think war is wrong and I will not support one. I also don't think conscription is right either being it drags people into war.

If the draft is ever reinstated I'm moving to canada.

 

[HHDomains]

There are many countries who have mandatory military service. It is far from ruining their lives. In fact they mature faster and are prepared for the real world far earlier than others.

Again, you need to be able to differentiate between mandatory military service and conscription. There is a big difference.

Hopefully, if you tried to move to Canada just to avoid the draft we wouldn't accept you. Even Canadians believe in respecting your country.

 

[brewmonkey]

That is a pet peeve of mine.
It amazes me how many people are content to sit back and bitch about their lives and bitch about their government but don't have the ambition to vote.

As far as I'm concerned, if you don't vote, you forfeit your right to complain about government.

That is it exactly. I know far too many people though who just don't see it like that. They would rather stand idly by, making excuses for why they could not get to the polls before 9pm and then bitch about how "screwed up" things are.

They learned a hard lesson a few years back in my small town. We had a City Council election that came down to 10 votes out of 20K eligible voters. Of course only like 3K got to the polls that day...

Those poor saps spent the next 4 years bitching about the council but i'll be damned if for all their blather the very next election they did the same damn thing, sat at home and did nothing.

Worse is that you can vote early in my town. For 30 days prior to the election/voting day you can go to the City Hall and vote with the City Clerk or for County elections at the Registrars office.

It Boggles the mind.

There are many countries who have mandatory military service. It is far from ruining their lives. In fact they mature faster and are prepared for the real world far earlier than others.

Again, you need to be able to differentiate between mandatory military service and conscription. There is a big difference.

Hopefully, if you tried to move to Canada just to avoid the draft we wouldn't accept you. Even Canadians believe in respecting your country.

You cannot leave the US for Canada to avoid the draft. They closed that 'loophole' down some time ago and now Canada will send you back to the U.S.

XD... I don't mean to offend, but you're crazy. Not all of the kids are out of control and a couple of out of control kids shouldn't ruin life for the good kids. Even if you get a choice to do a non military service I'm pretty sure you have to go to the country that the war is being fought in with just as many risks as soldiers. I'd rather take the jail time that would come with refusing to do any service. I think war is wrong and I will not support one. I also don't think conscription is right either being it drags people into war.

If the draft is ever reinstated I'm moving to canada.

You say war is wrong so that means you believe the allies fighting World War II was wrong, right?

You do realize that not everyone who serves ends up fighting a war right? In fact you would be shocked to find how small the percentage is compared to total troop strength. In my 9 years as a soldier (Infantryman) the US was involved in Panama, Desert Shield/Storm, Haiti, Bosnia, Yugoslavia & Kosovo. I never deployed once for any of those nor did any unit I was a member of.

There are also plenty of jobs in the military that can be performed by those who do not wish to take up arms, like being a medic. Perhaps you should read the whole story of Alvin C. York, Medal Of Honor Recipient who was also a conscientious objector.

 

[Humdizzy]

There are many countries who have mandatory military service. It is far from ruining their lives. In fact they mature faster and are prepared for the real world far earlier than others.

Again, you need to be able to differentiate between mandatory military service and conscription. There is a big difference.

Hopefully, if you tried to move to Canada just to avoid the draft we wouldn't accept you. Even Canadians believe in respecting your country.

I just don't like the thought of dropping everything you're doing in life to go serve your country. It's just my opinion on the first post of this thread. Like how would you like if you had kids doing well in school and they had big plans and everything. Their life already planned out go to college and become as sucessful as possible. But that won't be able to happen because unfortuantly they have no interest to major in the science field or medical field so forget their plans they have to go support their country first. Put their life on hold for 3 years then replan. I don't think that is really right. I say that they should actually put all those people in gangs and are absolutely doing nothing with their life should go serve for the country. And not just every kid who gets out of high school.

 

[HHDomains]

They don't have to be prevented from going to college.
You can serve your mandatory military service and still go to school.

This is not the draft we are talking about. It is mandatory military training.
There really are no negatives. It instills discipline and as far as I'm concerned makes for a better person.

 

[Iravan]

My Opinions on this

First I am really quite disgusted by this generalization of the youth as being the perpatrators. Gangs were formed before our generation... Tookie Williams is a good example. Another thing the primaray market for drugs is not the youth. Rather it trickles down from the 'adult' drug industry... Basically the whole generalization is wrong. Some soldiers in the US army commit atrocitiesyet you dont brand the whole army with that same brush.

The Second point is that in this age, it already takes an enormous amount of time to finnish studies. about 10 years to become a doctor, there is just not enough time for youth to be concripted and still carry on with their lives.

Just my points

 

[.X.]

The only way i ever see the draft being implemented is if there is a world war.The key to these young folks future is "Parenting" imo.And lots of it.

 

[HHDomains]

The Second point is that in this age, it already takes an enormous amount of time to finnish studies. about 10 years to become a doctor, there is just not enough time for youth to be concripted and still carry on with their lives.

Just my points

Like I said before, there are many countries who have mandatory military service and they seem to do just fine. Far lower juvenile crime rates and equal if not higher level of education overall.

 

[Humdizzy]

They don't have to be prevented from going to college.
You can serve your mandatory military service and still go to school.

This is not the draft we are talking about. It is mandatory military training.
There really are no negatives. It instills discipline and as far as I'm concerned makes for a better person.

What is the point then?

Oh hey guys I had mandatory military training. I wasted 3 years of my life and because of this training I'm a tougher, better, stronger person. Oh and best of all guys I have tons of self-control from military discipline

Again this is why most of us are born with parents or gaurdians to instill discipline into us. Not all kids are bad. Not every kid in the U.S. needs more discipline to make them a better person than they already are.