Some people in government have big plans for your life.

Once again, a clique of politicians, bureaucrats, and militarists are planning to take over the lives of America's youth.

Once again, they want a draft.

Once again, we have to stop them.

The Libertarian Party is actively working against this new draft push.

The following outlines the reasons for our opposition and why we need your help and support.

CONSCRIPTION — THE NEW SLAVERY

Libertarians believe you have a right to be free.

We believe that all human beings have the right to live their own lives in whatever manner they choose, so long as they respect equally the rights of others to do the same.

No one else, including government employees, should abridge this right.

With a draft, the State says otherwise.

The draft is based on the fundamental idea that you, your body, your very life - are nothing more than government property. Young people become, as several politicians have put it, "our greatest natural resources" - like so much timber, stone, or iron ore, to be shaped, molded, and "disciplined", to meet the designs of persons in political power.

The draft is thus slavery and distinctly anti-human. A draft would force young people to labor for government interests against their will and would punish those who refuse to submit.

Draft proponents say that you have an obligation to serve your country. But service to one's country,is not the issue here.

America was born in a revolution that embraced the tenet that laws exist to secure the liberties of the people - not abridge them.

A person may love his country and may be willing to fight and even die for its defense. That person may still resist misguided programs such as the draft, which sabotage the liberties on which this country was built - the liberties which are the cause of our patriotism.

"NATIONAL SERVICE" — SLAVERY WITH A SMILE

If young people can be drafted for military needs, then why not for non-military programs as well? Cheap labor can be had by both the Pentagon and H.E.W. After all, once again, it's only your life.

The "national service" idea embraces the arrogant and incorrect assumptions that 1) the activities of free individuals and organizations are secondary to State interests; 2) the State can and ought to determine what is best for you; and 3) government programs actually help to alleviate America's social and economic problems. Government programs aggravate and often cause poverty and unemployment problems rather than curing them (for example, heavy taxation and minimum wage laws are the prime contributors to high unemployment among young people). A "national service" program would be just another attempt by politicians to hide embarrassing social problems under a mountain of bureaucracy and coercion.

Beneath its altruistic cloak, the real goal of "national service" is people control. The Committee for the Study of National Service writes, "the mobilization of youth with their energy and plasticity is seen as important strategy for achieving certain national goals" ' Once again, America's youth are to be regarded simply as resources to be exploited.

A "national service" program would militarize American society. Private organizations and industry would be subsidized by armies of conscripted slave labor. Gone would be the positive concept of true voluntarism to be replaced by the resentment and rebelliousness of today's youth working under the heels of bureaucrats frantically trying to "do good" at the expense of our liberty and our lives.

THE ALL VOLUNTEER FORCE

"The AVF has provided the military services with a full strength active force of the quality equal to or superior to that achieved under the draft."
— Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense, December 31, 1978

Criticism of the All Volunteer Force (AVF) is based largely on ignorance, fabrication, and myth. Below are answers to some popular misconceptions.

Myth #1 - Too Expensive

According to the Defense Dept., the total cost of maintaining the All Volunteer Force is $250 million per year, or less than 1% of the entire defense budget.

To cut costs, many other wasteful and destructive government activities can be eliminated, rather than resorting to draft slavery.

Myth #2 - Poor Quality

The quality of volunteer recruits, measured by mental aptitude and educational levels, is the highest ever. For example, in 1964, 1 out of every 7 enlistees ranked in the lowest mental group, IV. In 1977, only 1 out of every 20 enlistees ranked in this category. Mental aptitude test scores in the AVF have continued to rise, even while average test scores have fallen for the civilian population as a whole.

The number of disciplinary incidents has declined dramatically since the AVF began.

Myth #3 - Discriminates Against the Poor

Representation in terms of income level is the same in the AVF as it was during the pre-lottery draft.

The AVF has become more of a "regular" job, with pay and benefits similar to the private sector. A return to the draft would be a return to wages and living conditions - the very environment many of the poor try to escape.

Myth #4 - Too Few

Even with the bloated manpower requirement of 2.1 million men and women in uniform, the, Volunteer Force has successfully met its objectives since the end of the draft. Under the AVF, active forces have remained within 1.5% of Congressionally authorized levels.

A FORCE FOR PEACE

The All Volunteer Force is a distinctively defensive force. With an AVF, future Vietnam-type wars become very difficult, if not impossible to carry out. For example, few young people would voluntarily enlist for wars of military adventurism in Asia, Africa, or the Middle East.

To encourage enlistments, military actions we be justifiable in the eyes of the American as being in defense of the United States - defense of our country, our liberty, our lives, the lives of our loved ones.

A return to the draft would only increase the chances for U.S. involvement in more wars abroad.

A NEW FOREIGN POLICY

Astonishingly, seventy percent of the U.S. defense budget is not spent for the defense of the United States, but for the defense of foreign governments - most of which are quite capable of defending themselves.

America's present destructive and futile foreign policy of trying to "police" the world requires our present level of 2.1 million active military personnel. One third of the U.S. Army is stationed overseas!

Rather than compromising our liberty, through a draft, to suit such a wasteful foreign policy, we must change U.S. foreign policy.

We must initiate a foreign policy of non-intervention, as expressed in the time-honored American principle: free trade with all - political entanglements with none.

THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY CALLS FOR:

• THE COMPLETE DISMANTLING OF THE SELECTIVE SERVICE SYSTEM to put an end to the draft threat once and for all.
• AN ENDTO U.S. GOVERNMENT MEDDLING IN THE AFFAIRS OF OTHER COUNTRIES. The U.S. must stay out of foreign wars and involvements which only increase the chance of war, while maintaining a military force capable of defending the United States.

This Position Paper was prepared by Jay Hilgartner.

Statement of Principles

We, the members of the Libertarian Party, challenge the cult of the omnipotent state and defend the rights of the individual.

We hold that all individuals have the right to exercise sole dominion over their own lives, and have the right to live in whatever manner they choose, so long as they do not forcibly interfere with the equal right of others to live in whatever manner they choose.

Governments throughout history have regularly operated on the opposite principle, that the State has the right to dispose of the lives of individuals and the fruits of their labor. Even within the United States, all political parties other than our own grant to government the right to regulate the lives of individuals and seize the fruits of their labor without their consent.

We, on the contrary, deny the right of any government to do these things, and hold that where governments exist, they must not violate the rights of any individual; namely, (1) the right to life - accordingly we support prohibition of the initiation of physical force against others; (2) the right to liberty of speech and action - accordingly we oppose all attempts by government to abridge the freedom of speech and press, as well as government censors in any form; and (3) the right to property - accordingly we oppose all government interference with private property, such as confiscation, nationalization, and eminent domain, and support the prohibition of robbery, trespass, fraud, and misrepresentation.

Since governments, when instituted, must not violate individual rights, we oppose all interference by government in the areas of voluntary and contractual relations among individuals. People should not be forced to sacrifice their lives and property for the benefit of others. They should be left free by government to deal with one another as free traders, and the resultant economic system, the only one compatible with the protection of individual rights, is the free market.

The Draft Resistance flyer (PDF):
» PAGE 1
» PAGE 2

» Bermudians Against the Draft

» No Compulsory Servitude

» Conscription - The New Slavery

» Anti-Draft Art

» View the draft freeze language here.

» View the draft resistance photos here.

» The Hero of the Day

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