The Draft: No Solution to Social Inequality

By Steve Gilliard, AlterNet
Posted November 22, 2006.

Progressives are drawn to Charlie Rangel's call for a draft, but a draft only inducts people. Class determines what job they will be assigned once they are in the military and, often, how happy they will be.

As recently as August, word that the Marines were calling up their last line of reservists had reignited draft chatter for the first time since Rangel's previous draft push during the run up to the 2004 elections. "This move should serve as a wake-up call to America," said Jon Stoltz, former Army captain in Iraq and head of VoteVets.org, who called it proof that our military is overextended and one of the last steps before resorting to a draft.

There's a temptation among progressives and liberals to view the draft as a potentially positive force, both in bringing about an end to the war and in leveling the playing field in terms of whose children actually have to fight. Unfortunately, to the extent that it ever was true, this simply isn't the case anymore. The draft will only pull more unfortunate men and women from the ranks of the under-privileged and under-represented.