Would it be unethical to have mandatory military service for poor young people only?

Question

Why?

Being in the military could teach them a trade and how to keep out of trouble. I think it'd be very good for them.

Answer 1

why draw the line there?

i say ALL Young people are fair game!

to single them out because of there demographic, is pretty shitty!

Answer 2

You do have a good point, but you have to go way beyond that single thought. At the advent of WWII the US started a draft system where all young men were eligible to be called to serve their country. There was also a system of exemption established in order to protect some men from going. If you were in a critical trade, or position, or a parent you could be excused from the draft. This system was abolished after Vietnam. There were a lot of abuse in the system. Some richer kids could go to college and get an exemption. You could join the National Guard and be spared from front line duty. It ended up that there was a majority of lower class men being drafted, the rich ones found ways out.

Today there is no draft and if you look most of the people in the service are from the lower classes. Some can't afford to go to college on their own.

We would have a much better country if the US established some type of universal training system that could help out younger people with training or trades. Too many young people have no where to turn today and some join the service some join crime. Convicted felons are not allowed in the service.

Keep on thinking, maybe you can come up with a workable idea, maybe you could even get training for the idion that called you unamerican (NVR2L8).

Answer 3

It would be very unethical. Our armed service is an all voluntary service from all social, ethnic, and spiritual groups. If you make it mandatory then it needs to be mandatory across the board not just the poor. It could teach those rich young kids were money comes from and what real work is. It will also show them that they are no more important than anyone else. You question makes you sound like a very small minded person

Answer 4

Hell yes.

Conscription is all or nothing. If you are physically able to serve and live in a country where conscription is the norm, then rich or poor, the only choice you should have in the matter is whether you go in with a smile or bitching all the way. And conscription is only for a few years, in order to have a large manning pool to call upon in case of war, not to get rid of the people who are deemed to be socially inferior. After all, by that token, eventually there will be no one to draw from. And please note that all countries that still have the conscription also have a professional core to their military as well as the large number of conscripts.

Not everyone who comes from families that aren't swimming in money are ne'er do wells. My own family was middle-class and I joined out of a desire to serve, not because I had no prospects. If anything I had been accepted in the colleges I wanted to attend in the programs I wanted and I could have gone the easy way. Instead, I signed up. I joined because I wanted to and I've been a soldier my whole adult life. It took me a while to realize it, but I owe the military a lot more than just a paycheck and a trade. The service made me a better, stronger man than money or college could have.

And when it comes to troublemakers, what about the rich kids who have nothing better to do than spend their family's money, won't go to school and just all-around make pains of themselves? Are they any less a burden on society? After all, with the money behind them, they can virtually get away with murder while their less moneyed counterparts are just S.O.L.? Rich little bastards could also afford to learn something from the military. Things like teamwork, loyalty, honor, a sense of responsibility, a useful trade, leadership, respect, pride, commitment, the value of hard work and the rewards that come form it. Things that all the money they have can't buy.

Think on that. Because unless you think long and hard on this, you might never grow out of this mindset, the one that people with too much money and not enough heart are trapped into and makes them think that they are superior to those who are not quite as rich as they are.

Answer 5

Some countries require military service for all males. I can see your logic but it must be for all. Our country had the same during wartime, it was called the Draft. In 1973, Congress suspended the Draft and we went to an all volunteer Army. An intersesting side note was during The Civil War we had a mandatory Draft but you could get out of serving by paying someone to take your place for $300. It was legal. Our military service does a good job defending our country and teaching young people discipline and a trade. I have known many people who turned their lives around from being in the military. Your idea has merit but it has to be equal for all.

Answer 6

Wars have always been fought by America's poor. This has been true since the civil war when the conscription was first instituted. A person could legally buy his way out of the military by paying a federal $300 fee. Today you have college deferments and other hardship exemptions which exclude the poor.

Answer 7

The military would be good for most young people, but to single out a specific group for "mandatory service" would be hideously unjust.

Answer 8

Spoken like a true member of the cultural elite.

We don't do that because this is not a FEUDAL SOCIETY. You are not a lord and you do not have vassals to rule over and direct in your whims. Regardless of age or income, people in a DEMOCRACY have the freedom to chose what they want to do.

Maybe we should adequately fund our schools, which seems the more logical place to "learn a trade" and "stay out of trouble".

If you call yourself conservative, you are a fraud, and if you are a liberal than people like you are the reason the other half doesn't trust us.

Answer 9

Mandatory military service in general is unethical because it violates a person's rights. You CANNOT tell a person to do, even if you think that your way of thinking is better. You can only influence them.

Answer 10

Since when did poor become synonymous (that means the same thing as) with getting into trouble and being lazy? It's people just like YOU, sweetie, that don't deserve to be an American.

Answer 11

Yes because Blacks will be descrimatted you cant have litery test for voting or swiming test if they want to be cops and its sad but true most un educated pore peple are black and want a hand but the best method is teachen a man to fish not giving him a meal and the militery would do that but against there will.