Andrea,

(1) Do you think that it is “hysterical” to take offense at the prospect of being forced to fight (that is, to attack, to kill, and possibly to die), against your will, in a war that you disagree with? Set aside for a second the question of whether or not they ought to disagree with the war, and also the question of whether it’s likely that a draft will actually happen — those are separate issues; what I’m asking is whether, given somebody disagrees with a war policy, there is anybody who has the right to force them to go to war anyway? Because if nobody does have the right to act that way, then it seems to me that people are right to resent the prospect.

(2) I’m not sure I understand what you mean when you say that “It’s a shame, though, that there isn’t some way of getting lazy selfish people off their butts and out of themselves; things like mandatory military service used to serve that purpose, at least for some people.” Involuntary servitude in the military is a new and short-lived phenomenon in American history; the first federal draft was instituted in the middle of the Civil War; the only long-term draft the United States has ever had lasted 33 years — about a generation and a half — from 1940 to 1973, with a one year hiatus in 1947. All in all a draft has existed for only 37 years in all of American history; it hardly seems to me that this is the stuff of long-standing tradition.

Nor am I clear on why you think it’s a “shame” that there isn’t some government provision for involuntary servitude for “lazy selfish people.” Whether the victims are “lazy” or not, slavery’s wrong, isn’t it?

(3) ‘I can guarantee you that a lot of people don’t know that these nations, many of which have been busy calling us “warmongers” and so on, actually have the draft.’ Which demonstrates … what? Not that they are wrong to call the U.S. government “warmongers”; maybe they are right about that and maybe they are wrong, but showing that someone is a hypocrite shows nothing at all about whether what they say is true or false. If all you mean to show is that politicians are often hypocritical, then I’m sure you’re right, but I don’t know why you’d suggest that that’s surprising.

What part of the attitude toward the possibility of a military draft in the U.S. do you consider “hysterical”? (1) The idea that there might be one in the forseeable future, (2) the idea that if there were one, it would be bad, or (3) both?

And what was it that you found surprising about the list of countries that already have military conscription?