The Failure of American Values

Since the dawn of popular culture a teenage boy’s eighteenth birthday has been idolized as the entrance into the exclusive club of adulthood. Focused on enjoying the newfound freedoms that this anniversary brings, most don’t realize their new responsibilities as a legal adult until several weeks later. At least this was the case for me. Approximately one or two weeks following my eighteenth birthday last spring I came across a statute that, at first, I could not believe was even true. This regulation, that, upon turning eighteen each male in the United States is still required to register with the Selective Service, has shocked many of my classmates as we prepare for our senior year in high school. In our collective mind, the Selective Service remains a stagnant reminder of the horrors of war and the rebellions of draft riots and card-burnings. Having symbolically “abolished” the draft after the Vietnam War, it appears as only a logical course of action that the United States government proceed to disband the Selective Service, a bureaucracy that costs the American taxpayers over $20 million last year alone. In consideration of this fundamental question I have delved into the current anti-war and draft-opposition movement. This is what I have found.

Far more than simply a bureaucracy focused on preparations for conscription, the Selective Service, as an extension of the United States government, is able to deny rights to U.S. citizens based on registration. For one, failure to register with the Selective Service prevents young men from completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) forms. While to some the completion or failure to complete these forms may appear insignificant, they are used by most U.S. colleges and universities to assess student need in the college application process and, for some, directly affect the amount of aid given. For students without the financial means to pay for college independently, this form may directly prevent matriculation at certain expensive schools. Secondly, failure to register with the Selective Service prevents one from ever receiving a federal job. In a world where the U.S. government is seeking to solve countless problems such as the increase in global terrorism, health care reform, climate change, and economic recession should the Selective Service really be acting to discourage any individual from public service if they indeed feel morally opposed to registration for a possible draft?

Aside from the limitations on one’s personal liberties enacted upon refusal to register are the overwhelming differences in a draft today as opposed to the drafts held previously. Since the last induction of an American soldier due to conscription was completed on June 30, 1973, the Military Selective Service Act has dramatically changed for the worse. In the eras of World War II, Korea and Vietnam, a young man pursuing a full-time education was commonly granted a deferment to finish his schooling. Under today’s legislation however, a full-time student would only be given an exemption from the draft until his high school graduation, at which point he would be legally required to arrive for service. Additionally, a full-time college student drafted under today’s laws would only be able to defer conscription until the end of the current semester. Therefore, a college student pursuing his own education and trying to better himself and the world around him would be forcibly removed from academic pursuits and forced into a situation where death and violence would await him.

After such unnerving regulations have been widely publicized, some may wonder the extent to which this “politically apathetic” generation is resisting registration. In fact, since the “abolition” of the effective draft and the beginning of record-keeping of violators of the Military Selective Service Act for registration noncompliance in 1980, three million Americans have defied the United States government by refusing to give their contact information to the Selective Service. In response to this blatant refusal, the Selective Service passed these names on to the U.S. Department of Justice for pursuit. Indeed, the names of these eighteen year-old boys have, in fact, been given to the same executive department presided over by the Attorney General, Eric Holden. However, in a move that may even be considered civil protest, the Department of Justice has only prosecuted thirteen individuals in the past 29 years. Countless websites have also sprung up in constant encouragement of newly “of age” draft resisters. These sites include www.draftresistance.org and www.hasbrouck.org, two sources of information for this piece.

All in all, countless teenagers are struggling to prevent an oppressive bureaucracy from effectively taking control of their lives in the event of a possible draft and forcing them to commit acts previously seen as unspeakable. While the establishment of a new draft is seen by some as improbable, I must remind the public that the United States is currently fighting a global war against terrorism in two countries with over 100,000 soldiers while rogue states like Iran and North Korea continue to vie for international attention. In the event of an upheaval in either of these countries, or even the outbreak of hostilities in a seemingly docile nation on the horizon, how would the U.S. sustain current troop levels given the continued failure of American youth to meet recruitment quotas? Is President Obama really against a possible draft given his advocacy for mandatory civilian service? Why would you commit your son, your grandson, or your nephew to a possible draft? Why would you force them to diminish the memory of those dedicated individuals who gave their lives for their country voluntarily, choosing to put their life on the line for the safety of us all? In the end, we must all ask ourselves why, if the draft is such a distinct impossibility, every eighteen year-old American male is still forced to sign away his own morals and virtues by registering with an institution whose sole purpose is the preparation for a new conscription? We must, as conscientious American citizens, take decisive action to prevent forever the even remote possibility of another draft, of another war, of another irreparable damage to American solidarity and patriotism.