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Reviving the draft with
by Mike Royko
That politically dreaded "D"
word is finally being uttered in
Washington. "D," as in draft.
Draft, as in grab those young
people, put them in uniform,
teach them how to aim a rifle,
and ship them out.
Military experts are now
saying that if we're going to
hurry up and fight Iraq, as
President Bush wishes, well need
more able bodies.
Simple arithmetic. We're
putting a vast army in Saudi
Arabia, so we're shorthanded
elsewhere. If we have to replace
those in the desert because they
die, are wounded, or are rotated,
someone has to take their place.
And since young men and
women aren't rushing to
enlistment offices these days, the
only way to fill the manpower
gap is to restore the draft, which
ended in 1973.
If it must be, OK, it must be.
But if we're going to have a draft,
it should be done fairly.
The question is, what is fair?
We all have our own ideas about
fairness, so here's mine, in the
order that draftees should be
called.
(1) The first group should be
Values education
Recently, in English class, we
were discussing an essay by
Richard Mitchell entitled, "The
Columbus Gap." It's from a
chapter in his book, "Less Than
Words Can Say," written in
1979. The preface states that
"Mitchell blames the public
schools for producing a
population of muddled speakers
and thinkers." He goes on to
"ridicule educators emphasis on
teaching 'values clarification'
rather than language skills."
Sitting in the college
classroom eleven years after this
was written has compelled me to
voice why I strongly believe
values education classes should
be taught.
The shrill cry of a young
student at least twenty years my
junior still echos in my brain, "I
don't know why they force you to
take things you don't care about
and I'll never use in my career. I
didn't come here for therapy."
It was all I could do to prevent
a knee jerk response by yelling
out, "not therapy, but
examination of yourself and the
world around you, and how and
why you come to believe the
things you do."
But I restrained myself from
proselyttizing. Then I headed off
to my class in developmental
psychology and discovered that
less than sixty percent of all
adults ever reach level three of
Kohlberg's moral stages of
development which includes
abstract emphatic reasoning. It
states that cognition is a
the draft-age sons, daughters,
nieces, nephews and grandchildren
of all members of the Bush
administration. And not for any
typewriter or filing duty. No,
they should be given a crash
course in fighting against naked
aggression and shipped directly to
the front.
That's. fair, I believe, because
this rush to war is Bush's idea.
He didn't ask the American
people, he didn't ask Congress,
and maybe didn't even ask the
guy sharing his golf cart. And at
this point he still hasn't asked.
Yes, he asked the U.N., but
I'm not sure how many
Americans want their kids to get
their marching orders from our
old pals, the Soviet Union and
China.
(2) The next draft-age group to
be called should be the sons,
daughters, grandchildren, etc., of
those members of Congress who
are Bush's cheerleaders. If they
believe we should go charging
into Iraq, let their kin lead the
charge.
(3) The sons, daughters, etc.,
of the top executives of any
American corporations that sold
Iraq any of the military gadgetry
and hardware that has helped
make it possible for Saddam to
r F
prerequisite of moral behavior.
How ever will there be hope for a
better world if people aren't
engaged in the act of process of
knowing?
While Mitchell and I agree
"you just can't go and teach
values," you can teach the
process that allows self
confrontation. Concrete models
provide an analytical way of
looking at what you believe and
why you believe it.
Dr. Roger Sweetening's book,
"A Values Approach to Health
Behavior," describes the self
actualizing person as "the one
who comes closest to fulfilling
human potential and such core
values as truth, justice and
freedom." When we look around
us and see a nation whose
attention has turned toward an
uprising in racism, homophobia
and war, we can't help but think
the country could use a good
swift kick in the shift from the
absence of core values.
A recent example at school
brings to light my point. While
discussing the last film in the
women's series, I was
encouraging a young black
woman to see the film and stay
for the discussion that followed.
As soon as she heard that the
topic was about homosexuality,
her eyes widened, her body
stiffened, and while shaking her
head she said, "uh 0! I don't care
what those people do, just keep
them away from me." You would
have thought I was coaxing her
into swallowing a glass of
The Collegian
become a pain in the
international behind. You helped
give him more bang for his buck.
Now go here the bang.
MIKE ROYKO
(4) The offspring of the chief
executive officers of the Fortune
500 companies. I have nothing
personal against them, but I'm
sure that if they have any
thoughts about the advisability of
a war, they can get Bush's
attention a little easier than the
guy who changes the oil in my
cm
(5) The young members of the
howl
needed
-F~i~~
Instead of thoughtfully
responding and trying to acquire
knowledge outside her egocentric
world, she reacted defensively and
emotionally. I then posed a
question that required self
confrontation. I asked her if she
was ever bothered with that same
attitude some whites have about
blacks.
Her hesitant look indicated a
moment of self reflection. No, I
didn't change her mind, and she
didn't come to the movie. But I
believe questions like that in
response to ourselves are the
beginning of the process that
takes place in a values education
class.
That cognition increases a self
awareness and better
understanding of the
encompassing world. That
process can be used in our
continuing, evolutionary
development throughout life. It
contributes to establishing a
belief in core values such as
truth, justice, and freedom. In
this way, we come closest to
fulfilling human potential by self
actualizing.
The words of Chet Wolford
speaking at this year's Behrend
convocation ring ardently in my
mind: "Instead of always looking
for the right answer, we should
be seeking to ask the right
questions."
Diana Ziemniak
4th semester
Communication
justice for all
100,000 wealthiest families in
America. Once again, it's nothing
personal. But my guess is that a
hell of a lot more of these
families voted for Bush than, say,
the 100,000 poorest families in
America. So if he's their guy,
they should show their
enthusiasm and support for their
commander in chief by shoving
junior into the arms of the drill
sergeant
(6) This might be difficult,
but in the modern age of
technology, not impossible. A
special task force should read
every letters section of every
newspaper published since the
war crisis began. They should
look for letters that say things
like: "Let's get in there and get
this thing over with...," or "Let's
blast that Saddam back t 0...," or
"Let us support our commander
in-chief in this..." The names of
the letter writers should be noted
and if they are not lame or
infinned, they and their entire
families should be sent draft
notices.
(7) While the task force is
scanning the letters, it can check
out the editorials and columns.
Anybody who wrote anything
indicating an eagerness for the
shooting to start--off to boot
The
Collegian
needs
columnists:
We're looking
for a few good
writers with strong
opinions on current
issues and the ability
to meet deadlines.
If you're interested in applying for
one of the available positions stop
in The Collegian office, first floor,
Reed Union Building, and see
Todd J. Irwin, editor.
Thursday,' December 6, 1990
camp, killer.
(8) Bush's son, Neil. He
might be overage, but the lad
still looks young and spry. And
being drafted would teach him
that the pen might be mightier
than the sword in a back-room
S&L deal, but not on a
battlefield.
(9) Vice President Dan
Quayle. During lulls in the
shooting, he could work on his
sand wedge game.
Have I missed anyone?
Probably. I wonder how Henry
Kissinger would look in a gas
mask.
Some advocates of a fair draft
say that there should be no
deferments, as there were to the
point of scandal during the
Vietnam War.
But I disagree. I would grant
an automatic deferment, upon
request, to anyone whose father
was killed or wounded in the
Vietnam War. In fact, the
deferment would apply to anyone
whose father served in Vietnam.
They should have the right to
say: "No thanks, Mr. Bush, our
families provided all those names
for one memorial wall in
Washington; why don't you and
your crowd fill in the next?"