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 By Jack Lepiarz Nov. 21, 2006 There's been a lot of talk about reinstating the draft--mostly among older men and women who are not in danger of having to serve if it is reinstated. I don't want to say that it wouldn't affect them, because I know that many have children who are around my age and therefore eligible to be drafted. How do I feel about a draft? (Long sigh) How do I feel about being forced to go to a foreign country and shoot some Muslim terrorists? I'm not going to lie and say that I want to go. I'm not even going to say that I support the draft. But realistically, I see a draft as a fair way to get rich college kids off their asses. I came from a very well-to-do town where 90% of the kids went to college, if not more. In my class we had about two kids go into the military--one even went to West Point (although he's since dropped out and is going to Rutgers now). More than half of the people I went to school with were avid supporters of the war, to the point where they were saying that we should exterminate every Muslim in the world. Of course, not everyone was quite that angry, but many of them insisted that we "stay the course" in Iraq. Of course, these kids will never have to see the frontlines of battle. Most of them will get to go to a nice college and party for the next four years, while some of the other kids from my school who couldn't afford to go to school are now in Iraq. And that breaks my heart. It breaks my heart to see stupid rich kids get a free pass to college because their parents can afford it. Even I might fall into that category. At this point in time, there is not an offer the army could make to get me to join them, but if I were drafted, I would go. I don't like the war. I didn't like it from the beginning. I didn't like the original reasons for going in and I don't like the new reasons for going in. I don't like how it's been run, and I hate to see young men and women die needlessly. But what pains me more is that many people are there because they didn't have any other options. People my age went to Iraq to try to make their lives better and some of them aren't ever coming home. I'm reading a book called "Citizen Soldiers," by Stephen E. Ambrose. It chronicles the Allied offensive from Normandy to Berlin during World War II, and there was one passage that specifically stuck out at me. It spoke about how there were high school dropouts serving in the same units as students from Harvard and Yale. Some of the nation's best and brightest serving alongside people who couldn't make it through their senior year. Perhaps a draft is what America's youth needs. I don't like the idea, and I'd just as soon have us pull out of Iraq completely, but maybe this is a way to make some of our nation's more privileged youngsters appreciate life and liberty a little bit more. ------------ About the author: Jack Lepiarz is an 18-year-old college student at Emerson College in Boston. He also co-hosts the Katherine and Jack Show on UthTV.com and has been performing various circus talents for the past several years. Though often described as stubborn and egotistical, he tries to keep an open mind and treat others the way he would like to be treated. Email: Jackwuzhere42@aol.com Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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