Pros And Cons Of Mandatory Draft

The mandatory draft. An infamous rule that, during times of war, all men of a country within a certain age range must sign up for the military, without any choice in the matter. Many believe that, in the U.S.A., where everyone is free, that mandatory draft does not apply. It seems logical. In a land where one is free to make their own choices, not the government, it would make sense that mandatory draft does not exist. However, that is false. Mandatory draft does exist in the land of the free. On top of that, it is heavily punished. Failure to complete the mandatory draft will lead to loss of federal loans, loss of any chance at any kind of federal occupation, and even loss of U.S. citizenship. On top of that, there is the standard fine of

However, due to the occasional biased judge, not every single law in America follows the Constitution. The mandatory draft has been called into that category several times. It’s constitutionality is…...questionable.. The constitution specifically says that every person has the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” (U.S. Constitution). How many different ways does the mandatory draft violate just that part of the constitution? Let's start at the beginning of the statement. One’s right to life is violated by forcing one to risk their life. It’s as simple as that. If lives are forcibly put at risk, so is the right to life. Now on to liberty. If someone doesn’t get to make their own choices, then their liberty is gone. Liberty is almost defined as the ability for one to make their own choices, and if that doesn’t happen, their is no liberty. Finally, on to pursuit of happiness. The pursuit of happiness is someone’s right to do and try to achieve what makes them happy, and not be forced to do some other job or thing by the government…….such as being forced to join the military without any other choice in the matter. The mandatory draft likely violates the rule the most. It completely goes against the very definition of the pursuit of happiness. The mandatory draft violates the very natural rights that the constitution is supposed to in the least provide the U.S. with. That is no way, shape, or form

Obviously, it’s unfair to just yank someone out of their home or school and throw them into a war that some of them know nothing about. However, this is about the target range and some of the protections that are not afforded by it. There is one safeguard currently. One is exempted from the mandatory draft if they are currently enrolled for college, or are in a job that the government deems more important, such as a doctor. . . Another thing is family. It would be horrible for a husband to be yanked from his wife and kids, then to find out he died fighting in a war he didn’t even sign up for. If a man has children, or his wife is expecting, he should be exempted. Some would argue that the mandatory draft was necessary, that “the U.S. military must remain prepared to fight a really big war that might require a much larger force” (Barno/Bensahel). To protect against that, there would be safeguards put into the mandatory draft. If the amount of soldiers in the military by volunteer dropped to a point that was too low to fight, the protections such as college and family, would be stripped, and the age range upped from 18-25 to 18-30. This would protect our military from becoming too