The Draft Wars

Last year, I did a research paper on the effects that deployments have on soldiers' children. In class last week, we discussed danger in times of war. The practice of drafting men for the military came up as well. This topic reminded me of an article I found in The New York Times during my research last year.


The author, Bob Herbert, writes that the disconnect between American citizens and our military situation is at an all time high. People don't care enough about our wars because they aren't directly affected therefore less and less people join the military. He says that this causes more and more deployments for those in the military. He declares, "I would bring back the draft in a heartbeat. Then you wouldn’t have these wars that last a lifetime."


I don't know if the draft should be brought back, but I do know that too many people just don't care enough about the wars we are fighting because they don't hit close to home. We care more about sports and entertainment than we do about our own people dying. Herbert says: 

"We can get fired up about Lady Gaga and the Tea Party crackpots. We’re into fantasy football, the baseball playoffs and our obsessively narcissistic tweets. But American soldiers fighting and dying in a foreign land? That is such a yawn."

I know that I am guilty of this as well. But now that my brother is nearing his own deployment, I find myself reading the newspaper on a daily basis and reading military books. I have tried to educate and connect myself more to the wars that are raging on in the Middle East. I know that my case is somewhat unique to the North Shore, but people need to be more connected to our military situation whether or not you are against or for war.