Townhall.com
Eric Reimer

French President Emmanuel Macron this year reintroduced national service, also known as conscription, to France in order to “foster patriotism and heal social divisions.”

At a time when our nation is the most hyperpolarized it has ever been, when our young generation increasingly questions the very worth of America itself, and our country, particularly new generations is at the worst health in history, it is time to consider whether we should implement national service ourselves.

National service is in common use currently across democratic nations in the world as a form of civic duty amidst the freedom one is provided, just like paying taxes. It usually takes the form of mandatory military, or civilian service for objectors or those who choose, for all adults upon reaching the age of 18.

Conscripts are usually paid some form of nominal salary and are required to serve usually between six months to two years. Some nations have it only for men while others have it for both men and women.

Israel’s IDF is perhaps the most widely known conscription force, requiring all citizens, male and female, to serve in the military with very few exemptions. Conscription was common to the nations of Western Europe during the Cold War for obvious reasons, but still remained for many years afterwards until it was usually phased it out during the 2000’s.

Amidst the current time of great social turmoil in Europe, it appears many governments have realized a nostalgia for the widespread benefits of universal service. Beyond France, Sweden recently reintroduced mandatory military service for the first time in about a decade. In Finland, now over 80% of young men perform service. Norway in 2016 expanded its conscription to include women.

Clearly conscription is on the return for a variety of reasons.

In the United States, the idea of national service is as old as our nation itself. In the Revolutionary era, national service existed in quasi-form as part of general citizen participation in the various state and local militias. It was a point of debate among the Founding Fathers, split between those who favored a professional standing army versus general universal service.

Over the centuries national service has gone from its militia form to a variety of permutations, perhaps most notably the wartime draft first officially enacted by the federal government during the U.S. Civil War.

It was instituted again during World War I, raising an army of millions. In 1940, just before U.S. entry into World War II, over 71% of the population polled wanted immediate national military service, resulting in a peacetime draft that would soon be utilized for active service after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

The peacetime draft would continue afterwards into the 1950’s, utilized during Korea and our numerous Cold War bases around the world, as well as during the Vietnam War when public dissatisfaction finally saw its end in 1973.

The call for national service has also materialized in numerous civilian programs, such as the Public Works Administration of the 1930’s, as well as the still-existing Peace Corps and the Corporation for National Service’s AmeriCorps.

The Selective Service, which requires all men to register for potential conscription upon reaching age 18 and be ready until age 25, remains in place since its use during World War I’s draft. In 2016, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton called for women to also be included in Selective Service registration and the United States Senate passed a bill supporting such as well.

Theoretically, the Selective Service system could even now be potentially activated for conscription, although it likely would be better for our country to go through a more thorough deliberative process, with pilot programs, studies, and a national discussion.

National service has always remained present in our national discourse since, with the Universal National Service Act, among other variations, regularly being proposed throughout the years in Congress and the idea seeing occasional bipartisan calls for enactment.

It should be very much apparent why national service in the United States could solve much of our current social problems. Military service promotes discipline, grit, determination and teamwork. It gives life skills and supports physical fitness, both at the time and afterwards. It introduces people to those from all walks of life, as the U.S. proudly remains one of the world’s most diverse organization.

Furthermore, our nation is experiencing an increasing gap between civilians and service-members with a slew of negative externalities and that seems difficult to solve. According to Pew Research, in 1980 veterans accounted for 18% of U.S. adults. In 2016 it was 7% and declining.

National service sounds daunting, but our country is at a difficult point right now. It seems it’s at least an idea worth considering and exploring by our policymakers and discussing among our citizenry.

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Hard pass on slavery, Eric.

I know you like to post articles for discussion's sake without necessarily agreeing with them. Do you agree with this? Not sure I do.

quote:

To Fix, Heal, And Renew Our Nation

With people who eat Tide Pods, can't figure out what gender they are, and need "safe spaces?" I think this may be unrealistic. In another article you posted (by a different author), we've become victims of our own success and produced these people. I think I still favor the volunteer military.

That makes me laugh. To implement that would cause wide spread riots.
I wish things were different but they are not.
I'm thankful of my age ....I won't see the total demise of the USA.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
I know you like to post articles for discussion's sake without necessarily agreeing with them. Do you agree with this? Not sure I do.

quote:

To Fix, Heal, And Renew Our Nation

With people who eat Tide Pods, can't figure out what gender they are, and need "safe spaces?" I think this may be unrealistic. As posted in another, different author, article, we've become victims of our own success and produced these people. I think I still favor the volunteer military.

Generally I do agree that National Service is a good idea. I’ve been a fan of compulsory military service ever since it was inflicted on me ~55 years ago, with very little harm done, and much good.

I think it is good for a young man to have to do things, get up early, make his bed, arrange his belongings, follow a schedule, be uncomfortable under pressure, wear clothes, get haircuts, shine shoes, all imposed by others. Exposure to discipline, responsibility, requirements, consequences, doesn’t hurt anyone in moderation.

A great deal depends on how such a program is implemented, of course. When, how long, who is exempt if anyone, where, activities during participation, etc.

I was a F'lng Rotcy (OBC 3-68 at Ft. Sill). ETS'ed in Jan '70. My "mandatory" military service was one of the greatest experiences of my life!

I learned there were great guys (and shitheads) from all over the USA. Would not trade my exposure to the military for any other time in my life.

Hell yeah, reinstitute the draft. The millennials/snowflakes are gonna' demonstrate/riot about something anyway.

I think it's a great idea to build a nation's citizens and to give them a shared experience. I'd even make it a requirement in order to have voting rights.

Either two years of military service or if you're a conscientious objector, some form of peace corp service. Six months to learn the ropes, 1 year to do your assignment, then the last six months to teach the new recruits.

I support a National Military Service. Absolutely.

No issues with some form of mandatory service.

I am for Mandatory National service, however if they keep lowering the standards or quality of training then NO I do not want it. I do not want our military degraded. An example of my opinion is you are 18 to 23 years old you need to run 2 miles in under 20 minutes to pass. If you fail instead of being kicked out, you are recycled in basic training. Hopefully you pass the 2nd time. If you do not pass the 2nd time, then you are recycled again for the 3rd and LAST time. Fail the 3rd time then you are kicked out. That way after 3 cycles of basic training some if not most of it will change or your attitude and life for the greater good. Just my opinion. God Bless

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:
I think it's a great idea to build a nation's citizens and to give them a shared experience. I'd even make it a requirement in order to have voting rights.

Either two years of military service or if you're a conscientious objector, some form of peace corp service.

Agreed.

I wouldn't make strictly military service mandatory, but I'm in favor of requiring some sort of obligatory structured public service (military or civilian) to trigger certain civic rights, like voting. That would include both military service as well as service in something like the National Health Service, Civilian Conservation Corps, Americorps, etc. I'd even allow working in certain public service fields to quality, like LE/Fire/EMS, teaching in underprivileged schools, working for a non-profit medical provider, etc.

Don't want to serve your nation/community? That's fine. That's your choice. But you don't get a say in how it is run.

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Originally posted by Wino:
Hard pass on slavery, Eric.

Not familiar with the IRS are you? The US is one of the few countries in the world with a worldwide income tax system (from memory Eritrea is the other). If you are a US citizen no matter where you live and work you owe Uncle Sam a tax return and possibly taxes every year. And that just takes money out of your pocket every year. A brief period of national service can actually teach life skills that will last a lifetime. Ask some of the folks who served in or military if they got anything out of it.

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Originally posted by RogueJSK:

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:
I think it's a great idea to build a nation's citizens and to give them a shared experience. I'd even make it a requirement in order to have voting rights.

Either two years of military service or if you're a conscientious objector, some form of peace corp service.

Agreed.

I wouldn't make strictly military service mandatory, but I'm in favor of requiring some sort of obligatory structured public service (military or civilian) to trigger certain civic rights, like voting. That would include both military service as well as service in something like the National Health Service, Civilian Conservation Corps, Americorps, etc. I'd even allow working in certain public service fields to quality, like LE/Fire/EMS, teaching in underprivileged schools, working for a non-profit medical provider, etc.

Don't want to serve your nation/community? That's fine. That's your choice. But you don't get a say in how it is run.

Military doesn’t mean Rambo, or even Rambo lite.

The military does the best job of taking a punk off the streets and turning him into a useful human being. Notice I said “best job,” not “perfect job.”

“Military” conjures up all sorts of airborne, crawling in mud with rifles, shooting strangers, peeling potatoes on KP. Very few actually do that in real life, most of the time.

The intensity of boot camp is what seems to accomplish the desired goals.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:
I think it's a great idea to build a nation's citizens and to give them a shared experience. I'd even make it a requirement in order to have voting rights.

Either two years of military service or if you're a conscientious objector, some form of peace corp service.

Agreed.

I wouldn't make strictly military service mandatory, but I'm in favor of requiring some sort of obligatory structured public service (military or civilian) to trigger certain civic rights, like voting. That would include both military service as well as service in something like the National Health Service, Civilian Conservation Corps, Americorps, etc. I'd even allow working in certain public service fields to quality, like LE/Fire/EMS, teaching in underprivileged schools, working for a non-profit medical provider, etc.

Don't want to serve your nation/community? That's fine. That's your choice. But you don't get a say in how it is run.

This. I support national service.

I wonder what kind of volume we are talking here. How many kids turn 18 in a given year, on average. Could the military support a few million recruits each year?

Be pretty hard to accomodate all the helicopter mommies as their boys go through mean old Boot Camp.

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Originally posted by 1967Goat:
I wonder what kind of volume we are talking here. How many kids turn 18 in a given year, on average.

About 3.5 million.

So we're talking about tripling the current size (active). Not saying I don't support it, but that's a massive increase.

How will it be paid for?

Not just the paychecks but the training, equipment, and infrastructure.

Personally I don't think it's a good idea here.

The military doesn't make anyone something they're not. It can't instill discipline.

What the military can do is chip away at bad habits and the rough exterior to expose what's under the surface.

I say instead of mandatory military service, we send kids overseas to do missionary work in the poorest places. That would be a great place to learn some appreciation for our great country. Get your ass out there to see some real poverty so you don't take what we have for granted. Real poverty doesn't exist in America, real laziness exists, though. Go live among the poor overseas, live what they live through and experience what they experience.

quote:

Originally posted by pillboxesghost:
I was a F'lng Rotcy (OBC 3-68 at Ft. Sill). ETS'ed in Jan '70. My "mandatory" military service was one of the greatest experiences of my life!

Holy shit you are old!

I did OBC in 2009 at Sill. Good ol' Snow Hall. I hate that building so much...