I vote for abolishing the draft, for sure. If a situation arises that truely does call for the giving and taking of human life, those who volunteer to give and to take it are volunteering for tremendous sacrifice. Those who are compelled to do so are being sacrificed. There is a huge difference.
If a society under genuine threat to its very survival cannot generate enough people who care enough about it to fight for its survival, than I don't think it can be destroyed by its enemies anyway, because it has already been destroyed from within; the enemies just bring this to light and make it obvious. I definitely don't think it comes down to that for real as often as other Americans - and certainly the leadership here - seem to think, but I do realize it can happen. For those who choose to fight for what they believe is left, they should have that right.
One woman with the fury of a bear robbed of its cubs has ten times the fighting power of twenty plus men who don't even want to be there. If a woman loves her country that much, and feels that it is in peril and killing some people really will save it, she will have the fury of a mother bear whose cubs are in peril. Believe it. Men have more bone and muscle and fewer nerve endings in their skin, and in cultures like ours, who value the ability to exert force over others and in which that kind of thing inspires awe and respect, that extra dose of Testosterone (a growth hormone) is viewed as existing for wars and other instances of physical combat. Testosterone on the brain doesn't actually cause aggression, according to Dr. Robert Sapolsky, a Prof. of biology and neurology at Stanford University ("The Trouble With Testosterone" Sapolsky), but when the brain is in an aggressive mode for whatever reason, testosterone intensifies activity in the regions associated with aggression. It only happens if his passions are aroused that way though. If a man does not feel inclined to be aggressive, and that part of his brain in isn't turned on, than the T is not going to do that much. Therefore, it makes no sense to force unwilling males onto the battlefield when there are capable women who actually want to go.
I think it is sexist - not just against women but also against men, and definitely not in the man's (or the nation's) best interests - to have male selective service. The draft devalues a human life and a human will because it is a male human, while at the same time takes a condescending attitude toward women as far as our ability and prerogative to serve and protect those who depend on us or who we care for.
The worst thing is, so many wars fought in the Western world have been for someone's material gain, and many men's lives were sacrificed on the alter of greed. Leaders who call the shots on this never admit that this is what it is for, but it is nevertheless a serious problem. To say those who die in combat they were sent to against their will "served their country and preserved our freedom" is not really accurate in such cases. It doesn't feel like respect to say that this person who was forced against his will to give his life for something neither he nor I probably believed in "gave his life for my freedom"; it feels a lot more like the opposite of respect.
To forget about or ignore Memorial Day doesn't seem right either. So what am I supposed to do with Memorial Day? I think this year I finally worked out how I can respond to Memorial Day.
To all that were lost, all who were lost, I salute you. If you gave your life for a worthy cause, I salute you, you are not forgotten. If it was given by somebody else, either for a good cause or for plain old greed, I remember you, and I acknowledge you, and the tragedy and injustice that really happened. I will not forget or ignore those lost in Vietnam for example, who were taken from your homes and dreams and plans to fight a war that wasn't your own, and you didn't get to ever come home. I will remember you too, and what really happened. I will call it exactly what it is, an injustice perpetrated by your government, who should have been protecting you, instead they sacrificed you and your family for who knows what, maybe for money or pride or for votes. I am sorry. I will celebrate Memorial Day praying for an end to selective service, and an end to corporate greed and political corruption, an end to a nation that has no respect for life and conscience, and the start of a new day when no one has to fear being called on to fight and die and even kill in a war that they can't call their own. I will pray for a day when the real and full stories behind every conflict can be properly reported and understood, and real solutions addressing root problems can be found instead of blood poured out again and again as time marches on.
To all those who willingly paid the ultimate price for freedom that actually wasn't preserved or achieved, whose genuine heart of a hero was exploited and abused by those in power, I remember. I will seek, daily, to make choices that will lead to a change so that those who sacrificed you for their wallet will not have the ability to do that anymore. I won't just remember, I will live to honor the memory.
I salute all the heroes who have fought on battlefields and off of them who are no longer with us, some who won, some who lost, all who gave their lives to making others free:
Crazy Horse,
Russell Means
Wilma Mankiller
Martin Luther King
Geronimo
Lozen
Coleste
Harriet Tubman
Alice Paul
Susan B. Anthony
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Victoria Woodhull
Sojourner Truth
Mohandas Gandhi
Wiwo Ken Sawa
Col. Robert Shaw, with more than 1/2 of the 54th Massachusetts regiment
and the many others whose names I do not know, your sacrifices, your causes, and your efforts are not forgotten and never will be, so long as there is breath in me.
May all our warriors rest in peace.
F.W.F.G.
Memorial Day was started by former slaves on May, 1, 1865 in Charleston, SC to honor 257 dead Union Soldiers who had been buried in a mass grave in a Confederate prison camp. They dug up the bodies and worked for 2 weeks to give them a proper burial as gratitude for fighting for their freedom. They then held a parade of 10,000 people led by 2,800 Black children where they marched, sang and celebrated.
Thanks to Abstrakt Goldsmith for this nugget of history that most of us never learned in school.
