National service versus the military draft

The draft has had a tumultuous history ever since the draft riots during the Civil War. More recently, draft riots rocked the nation during the Vietnam War.

Although the Selective Service mechanism for drafting citizens into the military has remained intact, it has not been used since 1973. That is because the country shifted to an all volunteer military.

The draft is now back in the news. A judge recently declared the Selective Service all-male draft unconstitutional. The fact of registering 18 to 25 year old males is legal enough, but not having females register for the draft is not.

It is called discrimination, says Judge Gray Miller of Texas.

Now that women are eligible for combat duty, the question has been raised that women too should be subject to the draft.

A poll indicates that the majority of Americans think only men should be considered for the draft. About a quarter of those surveyed said there should be no draft at all.

Couple this with a recent survey that showed very few Americans are able to pass the basic citizenship test that those seeking citizenship must pass.

These two points bring up an important consideration.

Few citizens are actually engaged with the country. With less than 1 percent of the country serving the nation in the military and many not understanding the basic workings and history of the nation, something is needed.

That something is a system of national service for the bulk of the nation’s young adults.

National service need not be exclusively military service, but service in a variety of fields. Young adults could assist in public schools, offer extra hands in hospitals and help with child and elderly care. They could do work in national parks, on public construction projects and in research facilities. They could even work directly in government itself, in everything from municipal to national governments.

Part of the service could include education on the workings of a democracy and the important role citizens play in its success since civics is not pursued in school as vigorously as it once was.

Universal public service could fill some very big needs.

The experience itself, regardless of what field a person serves in, could be life changing for those involved. It could give back much more than it takes. More important it would provide the nation with a cadre of informed, involved and interested citizens that could later lead the nation by virtue of personal service rather than personal gain.