I got into a conversation with a prison guard, Mack McFracks.
He kindly shared his genius about compulsory military servitude.
It's always an education to have an aging prison guard with the
IQ of a bumblebee describe what the world should be like. I share
the conversation as I recall it.
Guard McFracks: We've
got to go back to the draft. Everyone should serve two years
right out of highschool. Kids think it's all fun and games.
Me: Or we could just lop off one
of their hands or gouge out an eye or two. That's not fun and
games.
Guard McFracks (looking
a little askance and taken aback): What do you mean? The
military will teach them everything they need to know. It would
be good for them.
Me: They'd learn to be drones,
obedient robots. They'd learn to obey blindly and not to think
for themselves.
Guard McFracks (getting
miffed): They'll learn responsibility and respect. They'll
be obedient. It's just what we need.
Me: We don't need to teach our girls
how to gun-down other people just because some crackpot politician
says we should be slaughtering them.
Guard McFracks (even more
confused): Not girls, boys! Teach the boys how to
kill. They need to do what they're told. Kid's can't just think
for themselves.
Me: That's just what the society
need, more young men trained as killers. The police state crowd
will be delighted.
Guard McFracks: They
learn a lot more than killing. It's what they need. They learn
everything they need to know.
Me: Regimentation? Goose-stepping?
The only good thing about a draft would be that the children of
the Republicans and the rich would have to go, too. That would
make war a lot less likely. The conservatives have wars because
their children don't have to fight them.
Guard McFracks (his anger
growing): The people who volunteer now are heroes. Others
should have to serve, too. Military service is a wonderful thing.
It's patriotic.
Me: The people who volunteer are
either fools or bullies, but if people consent to kill one another,
that's on them. Where trained armies of martinets slaughter half
a million people who have no interest in war, that's a crime
against humanity. There's nothing heroic about it. It's murder.
Guard McFracks: These
soldiers are sacrificing for your freedoms. They should be
honored. They are fighting for you.
Me: Personally, I honor the tooth
fairy and the Easter Bunny. When a real fight is forced on us,
then we fight. We stop as soon as e can. It's insanity to honor killing as if it were a virtue. War is not a virtue.
Guard McFracks (indignantly):
Everybody should be drafted and learn how to
handle a gun and obey orders. How would they learn how to hunt
or survive in the wild or march?
Me: The school kids in Pittsburgh
and Philly have a great need to hunt - hunt one another. And
survive in the park.
Guard McFracks: Well,
without the military, the kids just do what they think is right.
They have no respect for authority or anything.
Me: Wouldn't it be better for kids
to reason and decide for themselves? It's their world. You want
them to obey the president and do what you think's right? Why?
Guard McFracks: The
president knows best. We should all do what he says.
Me: It's better to do what your
own reason tells you is right. Each person should be his or her
own master. Our job is to impart a value system to the young.
We should advise from our experience.
Guard McFracks (fuming):
You've never been in the military have you? That's the only reason
you talk like that. What would you do if you were drafted or
if your son was drafted?
Me (smugly): I'd run away. I'll
let my children decide for themselves, but I'd advise them to
flee and rear their own family.
Guard McFracks
(resolutely): You're a coward! You're unpatriotic, a traitor!
Where would the country be if everybody was like you?
Me: At peace?
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