Note by Hunterbear: The renewed efforts to reinstate the military draft in the ' States are extremely disturbing to any thoughtful, realistic person. These are follow-up comments that I made on another list.
=================================================== We can discuss back and forth what kind of military -- if any -- we should want and have but the cold fact at this extraordinarily mercurial and volatile moment in history is that to hand Bush et al. a military draft would be pure all-around sanguinary disaster. Even to propose it for pragmatic reasons strikes me as just plain dangerous. [I'm quite willing to give Rangel and Conyers credit for being altruistic -- and I doubt that they actually see a draft as possible at this point -- but I see them as essentially unrealistic on all of this. After the last 15 months -- to say nothing of the last century and more -- anything can happen, especially if it's negative.] The "Viet Nam era" followed and was to some extent enveloped in its earlier stages by the Civil Rights Movement and collateral spin-offs and the high idealism, radical vision, and social justice momentum triggered by all of that -- a period of great affirmative reform comparable to the 1910s and 1930s. In that context, draft protests occurred for sure, And there was some radicalization of GIs -- but I doubt that was, even with the Movement glow, anything except a very small number of troopers compared to the vast number who conformed even in that turbulent era to military folkways and mores. This current period certainly has its great fight-back dimensions -- but it's still a reactive kind of Movement, and often sparsely so. It's certainly a far cry from the 1960s. [That may be coming but the ethos I presently sense is close kin to the '50s.] If a military draft were to be initiated, there would be protests on campuses -- but I doubt many draftees at all, once in military society/culture, would dissent publicly these days. My basic objection to the military draft, or any forced government service of any kind, stems from my strong commitment to a full measure of liberty as well as a full measure of material well-being. Although my mother was mostly Scottish, she had a Swiss grandfather who left that country because of his opposition to universal military training. He came to the United States, became an abolitionist, volunteered for the Union Army and was wounded at Gettysburg [and later became a Populist and then a socialist.] [I've always regretted that I did not know that great grandfather -- a kindred spirit indeed -- who died many years before I was born.] Many members of our family on all sides -- Native and Anglo -- have traditionally volunteered for military service [including my father and myself] but far fewer from mid-century onward and none of my children or grandchildren. I do maintain my membership in AMVETS and certain other veteran's organizations. Hunter Gray [Hunterbear] www.hunterbear.org Protected by NaŽshdoŽiŽbaŽiŽ and Ohkwari' In our Gray Hole, the ghosts often dance in the junipers and sage, on the game trails, in the tributary canyons with the thick red maples, and on the high windy ridges -- and they dance from within the very essence of our own inner being. They do this especially when the bright night moon shines down on the clean white snow that covers the valley and its surroundings. Then it is as bright as day -- but in an always soft and mysterious and remembering way. [Hunterbear] _______________________________________________ Leninist-International mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international
