The Military Service Divide

I've heard the military-service divide bemoaned in print and among my extended family. The general line goes something like this: Since conscription has ended and we have shifted to a volunteer force, the American people have become disconnected from the sacrifice, culture, discipline, and manners of our service members.

I agree with such concern, but not exactly for the same loss. Conscription is slavery, so there is no loss in its absence. Military service is not as noble as it sounds, because it is indentured servitude. So service in our national military - or even the national guards - is a boondoggle, a false ideal, an avenue for misguided pride, and a vehicle for promoting an logical fallacy.

I bemoan the loss of true civil service - the loss of truly voluntary militia service.

What have we gotten in exchange for giving up the militias? An adventurous military. An oppressive police state. A web of bureaucratic internal spying. A less trustful society.

Will revitalizing the militias solve all our ills? Of course not, but it would move us toward stronger communities, be a foil to an out of control bureaucracy, and discourage the illegal and illegitimate activities of non-peace-officer LEOs.