How 'bout we just get rid of the silly requirement that 18-year-old males have to register? Seriously, does registering do any good? And the registration process can and does do actual harm. Guys who neglect to register are ineligible for a bunch of federal benefits.
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Iâll be sure to work on it. I assumed that it was a pretty obvious reference to all the wars where we lost significant numbers of GIs. It wouldnât make a whole lot of sense to be applicable now.
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Back in the days when disco was king (or queen as the case may be) the restrooms were by default unisex. There were too many needs to be attended to to have to wait for the proper His or Her to be available. This woman occasionally goes into a one-seater as a last resort.
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I agree that the draft, or conscription more generally, is a thing of the past. Weaponry has outmoded mass infantry. The rationale for the draft in WWII was due to having to retake and occupy large masses of land full of cities, towns and villages in western Europe and SE Asia, until the invaders were defeated and locals could take over their own security (or live alongside the imposition of ours) and reassert peaceful domestic control. Except for places like the former Yugoslavia, that modelâs been dead since the Korean War. Viet Nam proved we couldnât rely on it over large swaths of the planet.
While on the one hand McHugh seems to want to leave some âcomfortingâ message about his and presumably as the Army general staffâs views on gender equality, that he would use a long-ago outmoded tool to center his remarks around is dismaying.
Hasnât he read Use of Weapons? Doesnât he understand robotics? Has he paid NO attention to war tactics since WWII? I think the answer to all those is, No, but itâs irrelevant anyway, because what these remarks were really about was increasing the institutional power of the Army in particular and the U.S. military generally. The founders and the participants in the Congressional Conventions were genuinely concerned at the possibility Washington (George) would use the presidency to take control of the countryâs domestic polity. McHughâs remarks here concern me in that same general direction. How did the Republic of Rome fall? It fell to a general in control of the biggest army. Thatâs been a common scenario for thousands of years, and so-called modernity hasnât achieved much to limit it. Even in the western world, weâve seen many military dictators in South America and even in Europe, most recently with Franco in Spain, Salazar in Portugal, and now effectively Putin in even the most westernized parts of Russia.
Weâve had periodic legitimate concerns about military takeover here for a century now - particularly in the early 1930s and in the first half decade following WWII. I actually think itâs the most likely outcome once the Republicans finally succeed in dismantling federal government and taking down the economy. And if ANY of these Republican idiots now running for president were to win, I would reevaluate that chance closer to absolute.
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Like hell.
You said:
âSeriously. If you kill a lot of enlisted and the women who give birth, itâs a population issue.â
Present tense. Just admit it or let it go.
And the 80 + percent of the population would think twice about using us as cannon fodder.
They should have to sign up for it thought when they are 18.
Did you read the same article that I did?
There is a vast array of federal benefits and services that will be denied to men unless they register for the draft, including financial aid and loans for school. Itâs fundamentally unfair, and registration should be discontinued. Failing that, itâs just common sense that the requirement be applied equally.
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Nothing to admit. Iâm of the age where I havenât ever seen wars that took the lives of large numbers of soldiers like Vietnam and the WWs. This was the driving policy to keep women out of the draft back then. The loss of tens of thousands of young men AND the corresponding women of the same age could have been devastating. Whether we are overpopulated or not, itâs was an economic issue. It wouldnât make any sense for me to argue that now when we rarely lose servicemen in war because we rarely fight ground wars.
I also went on to explain what I meant in three separate answers after I wrote my response. You havenât ever been taken wrong or had to clarify in this board before now? I hope they cut you some slack.
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Heâs right, and I support that idea.
They can make reasonable accommodations for women, such as granting exemptions for women with small children, etc.
We need a draft - people will be less likely to cheer for war if THEIR asses could be in the line of fire.
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Grow up. Future tense.
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Hey, I like that idea! Want a gun? Show us youâre serious about being part of a militia and pay your dues. Meanwhile, get legitimate weapons training and a fitness evaluation (mental and physical). That should weed out the crazies.
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Many public restrooms in Europe are unisex. I havenât really heard any hue and cry about it. It certainly would resolve the issue of which bathroom transgender people can use.
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Finally! Yes women should be required to register.
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GOOD. Itâs about Fân time that happened.
Maybe then the Reich-Wingers will think twice about committing American Soldiers to war.
(of course that means LOTS more deferments for the Wealthy and those âwith other prioritiesâ like DICK CHENEY)
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Iâm not so sure of that; women are generally considered of less value than men. After all, theyâre just sluts and so can serve an important need of men in the service, but theyâre interchangeable and dispensable. Kind of the way men have always tended to think of us.
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Sorry, but they only pretend to respect women, motherhood and all that. Money trumps all. Theyâll still send others to war if the bottom line looks good.
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Hereâs the thingâŚThe elimination of the draft is probably the biggest driving factor in our recent rush to use of military force. An all-volunteer army is disproportionately made up of poor youth who canât find any other jobs. The promise of âthree hots and cotâ is enough to get them to enlist. No other jobs are available, thanks to the greed of false âjob creators.â
And then, once we have an army made up of the disenfranchised and poor, the politicians are FAR more likely to use it that if it was made up of donorâs offspring, corporate honchoâs kids, trust fund babies, etc.
Pols donât have any real âskin in the gameâ when it comes to putting troops in harmâs way.
Now, don;'t take this as an endorsement for reinstating the draft, rather, take it as a indictment of the way Washington has made a majority of Americans second class citizens, and a subset of those, merely an expendable group of cannon fodder.
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Making baby soldiers for future wars?
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