This month marked 50 years of not having a military draft (conscription) in these united States. At age 18, our publisher was one of the last to receive a lottery number for potentially being drafted, though since he had already enlisted and was in the Corps of Cadets of Colorado School of Mines, he didn’t pay any attention and does not remember the number.

Ending the military draft after nearly 60 years was a bright spot in the history of American liberty. Conscription is an evil which by its very nature corrupts and perverts a nation or nations who claim to be free and value liberty. In the case of the American Union, it was even vastly more hypocritical and condemning: Congress and Lincoln establishing the draft in a war that was supposedly (as the song goes) being fought to set men free should cause our gorge to rise. (The Confederacy, we note, did the same thing – hypocritical as well as it expanded the boundaries of slavery to many more people.)

American history is tainted, indeed badly stained, by the idea and fact that conscripts were used in war and in supposed peace to “defend” the States. It sadly is the case that Americans have not totally abandoned the idea, however. To this day, 50 years later, young men must enroll in “Selective Service” to be identified as part of the pool of potential slave-soldiers. And every year there are absolute scumbags in Congress who try to reintroduce the draft and expand it to include women.

In light of past history, consider this quote by a former Sergeant Major of the Army. (SMA – the highest enlisted rank possible.)

“For those who have fought for it, freedom has a taste the protected will never know.“ – SMA Glen Morrell

This truism has been demonstrated time and time again, in world and American history. Even if the people who thought they were fighting for freedom (and not for Wall Street or to further the cause of the liberty-haters) were wrong, they have a better understanding of what freedom can cost. And has cost.

And even more, what the lack of freedom costs. Even the lack of some freedom – as the very idea of conscription demonstrates. It is one thing to volunteer, even at a relatively young age, and then be held to that action in later years, as those in the “All-Volunteer Army” have faced.

This month marked 50 years of not having a military draft (conscription) in
these united States. At age 18, our publisher was one of the last to receive a
lottery number for potentially being drafted, though since he had already
enlisted and was in the Corps of Cadets of Colorado School of Mines, he didn’t
pay any attention and does not remember the number.

Ending the military draft after nearly 60 years was a bright spot in the
history of American liberty. Conscription is an evil which by its very nature corrupts
and perverts a nation or nations who claim to be free and value liberty. In the
case of the American Union, it was even vastly more hypocritical and
condemning: Congress and Lincoln establishing the draft in a war that was
supposedly (as the song goes) being fought to set men free should cause our
gorge to rise. (The Confederacy, we note, did the same thing – hypocritical as
well as it expanded the boundaries of slavery to many more people.)

American history is tainted, indeed badly stained, by the idea and fact that
conscripts were used in war and in supposed peace to "defend" the
States. It sadly is the case that Americans have not totally abandoned the
idea, however. To this day, 50 years later, young men must enroll in
"Selective Service" to be identified as part of the pool of potential
slave-soldiers. And every year there are absolute scumbags in Congress who try
to reintroduce the draft and expand it to include women.

In light of past history, consider this quote by a former Sergeant Major of the
Army. (SMA – the highest enlisted rank possible.)

"For those who have fought for it, freedom has a taste the
protected will never know." – SMA Glen Morrell

This truism has been demonstrated time and time again, in world and American
history. Even if the people who thought they were fighting for freedom (and not
for Wall Street or to further the cause of the liberty-haters) were wrong, they
have a better understanding of what freedom can cost. And has cost.

And even more, what the lack of freedom costs. Even the lack of some
freedom – as the very idea of conscription demonstrates. It is one thing to
volunteer, even at a relatively young age, and then be held to that action in
later years, as those in the "All-Volunteer Army" have faced. We bear
the burden of partial slavery. And many of us argue that whether complete or
just partial, slavery is evil.

But the other consideration is the value that we place on freedom. How much
a price we pay for liberty. Those who had to fight for their own liberty and
for the freedom of their family, their community, their people, value their
freedom. Understand the price, the cost, of liberty.

Those who have liberty and freedom given to them often do not value those
things. They are jaded and take these great gifts for granted. Examples beyond
the vast majority of Americans in 2023? Most of us seem to have completely
forgotten the sacrifices our ancestors (physical and spiritual and political)
made to gain freedom from Britain in the 1770s and 1780s, or made in the 1860s -especially
for but also by black slaves. Or individuals and families escaping from tyranny
in hundreds of places over hundreds of years: Germany and China, Russia and
Vietnam, or many other times and localities.

Sadly, today the American military services are filled with people who do
not know the price paid, and are not serving for the sake of liberty or the
cause of protecting their homeland from tyranny. They are in for money and jobs
and education, or perhaps tradition.

And therefore more and more susceptible than ever to the propaganda spuing
from the months of politicians and brass-hat "military leaders" and
others who also do not know (or care) about freedom, but do care abouit their
own power and wealth.

Technology and money and real training can not completely make up
for the failure ofthe love of freedom and of country, and ever more incompetent
political and moral leadership. But the advantages of technology and wealth can
often hide the rot and decay. But when push comes to shove, what will
happen? We can recall the sorry state of the French Army in 1940, or the
Russian Army in 2022. They fail. Catastrophically.

Such is the state of the American military in 2023.