Fascinating. I remember what my Mom said when the push came for a volunteer military: It will be our end. I now understand how this evolved into now. God help us all.
A universal draft, a truly universal one, which would include women, would not just be for the armed forces but also for other endeavors that would give young people a sense of responsibility and an understanding of what this country stands for. It should include conservation, public health, along with the military. As for exemptions? Only in the case of dire hardship or already working towards a profession that would help fulfill the role of service to country. Will it ever happen? Nope.
The military has lowered its admission standards to the point that they are now accepting recruits who have neither a high school diploma or a GED. They have lowered their physical standards also. The Madison Ave. slogan "Be all you can be" has turned into a "no matter how substandard you are, we welcome you." This is not the armed forces this country has been led to believe we have. And all those on line soldiers? When faced with a real battle against a professionally trained fighting force? Would fold in a New York minute. But what can we expect from a draft dodger as president and an alleged functioning - sort of - alcoholic as Secretary of Defense? If the American Eagle could blush? It would cover its eyes and do so.
It is my opinion that all persons upon graduation from high school (or age 18) should serve our nation in some capacity for 2 years. That might be in military, or some public service role. These young men you write about (and their distaff contemporaries) would be able to postpone service if they stay in school or for hardship reasons (e.g.: disability or to support an immediate family member). Although that does not necessarily resolve all of the issues you have raised, I believe it would benefit the young people and our nation.
My brother always said the same thing, two years of national service should be mandatory for all high school graduates. I agree. It could be military, ConservationCorps, Americorps, PeaceCorps, National Parks, etc. The need is there, and it gives young men and women time to grow up while learning to value and respect service to country.
This is why wars happen so these people can be killed (legally) by America. Send ‘em all to Ukraine and let them kill Russian soldiers (or N Koreans or Chinese). Testosterone was definitely one of God’s mistakes.
Not buying what you're selling, which is not really much. 95% of this was a rehash of all the Bad Things(R) that have happened to men over the last... century, I guess. Sure, sure, trot out all the usual suspects, glorification of violence in media (how about games too?), no job opportunities, relationships with women (who did not choose to stand still and wait for the bros to catch up, and are not having it with their misogynistic anger), availability of weapons, absent fathers. I add and delete some here, but we've been reading it for twenty years and your eyes are already glazing over..
How to FIX it? I dunno, first define what you're going to fix, exactly. Feminists seem to think we're just fundamentally flawed because of a broken leg on one of our chromosomes, some would like to breed us out of existence entirely. At the other end of the spectrum, some MAGAs would like to eliminate women's voting rights and keep them barefoot and in the kitchen. Ohh, maybe illiterate, too, seems to work for the tribes in Afghanistan! Compulsory non-military National Service? There are countries (Guyana is one) that has or had this. I have no idea if it really did "strengthen the moral fiber of the youth", but the universal response I've heard from participants was that it was absurdist bullshit of the highest order, they call it "boy scouts for grownups". But I digress.
I'm prone to believe all this is an artifact of protracted periods of peace and prosperity. People get unhappy when they're too happy. I don't get it, but the data is in. Another Great Depression and a war would probably FIX whatever this problem is. But that's for another day.
Thank you for this piece-I have been thinking very much along the same lines-remembering that, at age 22, my father, in the 93rd Chemical Mortar Battalion, had liberated two concentration camps and been assigned as temporary military governor to 21 German towns awaiting permanent Allied command. He was a very moral man to begin with, but this most certainly brought him into adulthood and into a reverence for the US and public service that he carried throughout his life. He also, by the way, upon returning to the US, vowed to never pick up a gun again.
I believe Al Gore suggested a form of mandatory public service for all young people-age 18-20-the absence of that "conscription" has left young people without an understanding of government and what it can do to make peoples' lives better. Whether it is military or in human and infrastructure service, environmental work, tutoring, or many other areas for which the young person has skills and interest does not matter-what matters is the service. We ought to revisit this idea. Certainly beats social media!
As someone who volunteered to get a better deal from the military than a draftee got, and returned from my war profoundly changed as a result of having to be face to face with the Ur Lie of the War of Lies (The (Alleged) Tonkin Gulf (Non) Incident did not happen the way the government told you, folks. In fact, it didn't happen at all - I was there.) and who went on to become a recognized historian of the wars of the Greatest and Boomer generations, I find this article profoundly accurate. This is indeed the central problem created by the corruption of the country the three Cleaver brothers fought to create during their service between 1775-82.
I love Substack and its content Mainstream media(MSM) had its place but evolving journalism needs more of and in depth voice And the comment section invites people to share opinions and views that often viewers of the journalistic efforts on MSM are divorced from Lastly this media invites creators of the content the opportunity to delve into issues that are too complex for MSM to address For example the significance of the bond market deterioration is not well understood The danger of course is addressed but why is it happening and why is gold on the rise Alasdair Macleod has the reason and is on Substack An interview?
Thank you for this essay. As the mother of a young naval officer, this is what keeps me up at night.
Fascinating. I remember what my Mom said when the push came for a volunteer military: It will be our end. I now understand how this evolved into now. God help us all.
A universal draft, a truly universal one, which would include women, would not just be for the armed forces but also for other endeavors that would give young people a sense of responsibility and an understanding of what this country stands for. It should include conservation, public health, along with the military. As for exemptions? Only in the case of dire hardship or already working towards a profession that would help fulfill the role of service to country. Will it ever happen? Nope.
The military has lowered its admission standards to the point that they are now accepting recruits who have neither a high school diploma or a GED. They have lowered their physical standards also. The Madison Ave. slogan "Be all you can be" has turned into a "no matter how substandard you are, we welcome you." This is not the armed forces this country has been led to believe we have. And all those on line soldiers? When faced with a real battle against a professionally trained fighting force? Would fold in a New York minute. But what can we expect from a draft dodger as president and an alleged functioning - sort of - alcoholic as Secretary of Defense? If the American Eagle could blush? It would cover its eyes and do so.
It is my opinion that all persons upon graduation from high school (or age 18) should serve our nation in some capacity for 2 years. That might be in military, or some public service role. These young men you write about (and their distaff contemporaries) would be able to postpone service if they stay in school or for hardship reasons (e.g.: disability or to support an immediate family member). Although that does not necessarily resolve all of the issues you have raised, I believe it would benefit the young people and our nation.
My brother always said the same thing, two years of national service should be mandatory for all high school graduates. I agree. It could be military, ConservationCorps, Americorps, PeaceCorps, National Parks, etc. The need is there, and it gives young men and women time to grow up while learning to value and respect service to country.
This is why wars happen so these people can be killed (legally) by America. Send ‘em all to Ukraine and let them kill Russian soldiers (or N Koreans or Chinese). Testosterone was definitely one of God’s mistakes.
Not buying what you're selling, which is not really much. 95% of this was a rehash of all the Bad Things(R) that have happened to men over the last... century, I guess. Sure, sure, trot out all the usual suspects, glorification of violence in media (how about games too?), no job opportunities, relationships with women (who did not choose to stand still and wait for the bros to catch up, and are not having it with their misogynistic anger), availability of weapons, absent fathers. I add and delete some here, but we've been reading it for twenty years and your eyes are already glazing over..
How to FIX it? I dunno, first define what you're going to fix, exactly. Feminists seem to think we're just fundamentally flawed because of a broken leg on one of our chromosomes, some would like to breed us out of existence entirely. At the other end of the spectrum, some MAGAs would like to eliminate women's voting rights and keep them barefoot and in the kitchen. Ohh, maybe illiterate, too, seems to work for the tribes in Afghanistan! Compulsory non-military National Service? There are countries (Guyana is one) that has or had this. I have no idea if it really did "strengthen the moral fiber of the youth", but the universal response I've heard from participants was that it was absurdist bullshit of the highest order, they call it "boy scouts for grownups". But I digress.
I'm prone to believe all this is an artifact of protracted periods of peace and prosperity. People get unhappy when they're too happy. I don't get it, but the data is in. Another Great Depression and a war would probably FIX whatever this problem is. But that's for another day.
Thank you for this piece-I have been thinking very much along the same lines-remembering that, at age 22, my father, in the 93rd Chemical Mortar Battalion, had liberated two concentration camps and been assigned as temporary military governor to 21 German towns awaiting permanent Allied command. He was a very moral man to begin with, but this most certainly brought him into adulthood and into a reverence for the US and public service that he carried throughout his life. He also, by the way, upon returning to the US, vowed to never pick up a gun again.
I believe Al Gore suggested a form of mandatory public service for all young people-age 18-20-the absence of that "conscription" has left young people without an understanding of government and what it can do to make peoples' lives better. Whether it is military or in human and infrastructure service, environmental work, tutoring, or many other areas for which the young person has skills and interest does not matter-what matters is the service. We ought to revisit this idea. Certainly beats social media!
As someone who volunteered to get a better deal from the military than a draftee got, and returned from my war profoundly changed as a result of having to be face to face with the Ur Lie of the War of Lies (The (Alleged) Tonkin Gulf (Non) Incident did not happen the way the government told you, folks. In fact, it didn't happen at all - I was there.) and who went on to become a recognized historian of the wars of the Greatest and Boomer generations, I find this article profoundly accurate. This is indeed the central problem created by the corruption of the country the three Cleaver brothers fought to create during their service between 1775-82.
I love Substack and its content Mainstream media(MSM) had its place but evolving journalism needs more of and in depth voice And the comment section invites people to share opinions and views that often viewers of the journalistic efforts on MSM are divorced from Lastly this media invites creators of the content the opportunity to delve into issues that are too complex for MSM to address For example the significance of the bond market deterioration is not well understood The danger of course is addressed but why is it happening and why is gold on the rise Alasdair Macleod has the reason and is on Substack An interview?
Very good article.