Well, I take your points, but I think, at the least, that there is an in-between. Call it a "two-shot."
Every so often, Rep. Rangel introduces a bill to re-institute a military draft, as a means of calling attention to the currently skewed distribution of the burden. It makes a small splash when he does so, but only a small one, in part because hardly anyone in Washington wants to be associated with calling for a reinstatement of a military draft, even as a rhetorical device. I think, at the very least, that if Rangel and/or similarly situated Members of Congress (ie progressives from super-safe districts) would introduce my proposal, which is significantly more plausible, instead of what Rangel usually introduces, it would make a significantly bigger splash, and therefore do more to advance the underlying argument. On Thu, Oct 14, 2010 at 6:08 PM, Gar Lipow <[email protected]> wrote: > On Thu, Oct 14, 2010 at 10:25 AM, Robert Naiman > <[email protected]> wrote: >> How can we spread the burden of current wars more fairly, hasten the end of >> the wars, and make future wars less likely, without compelling Americans to >> participate directly in unjust wars? By instituting a wartime national >> service draft. A universal time tax will disproportionately inconvenience >> the super-rich, who will use their disproportionate political influence to >> make war less likely. >> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/for-a-dreamy-wartime-nati_b_762757.html > > My take: pretty obviously you don't intend it as a serious proposal, > because it has no more political chance of being passed than a Draft, > and if a path opened to change that the political energy it would take > would be better spent on ending the wars directly. > > So I think we can only judge it as a rhetorical device. And as an > answer to Gate's rhetoric, your rhetoric is pretty good.. It has some > emotional appeal, but is also a good frame on which you were able to > hang some facts. So I think it is good in this particular context. Not > a good long term frame - too indirect. I would not like to see it > pursued further. But quite good as a one-shot. > > >> >> -- >> Robert Naiman >> Policy Director >> Just Foreign Policy >> www.justforeignpolicy.org >> [email protected] >> >> Urge Congress to Support a Timetable for Military Withdrawal from >> Afghanistan >> http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/feingold-mcgovern >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> pen-l mailing list >> [email protected] >> https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l >> >> > > > > -- > Facebook: Gar Lipow Twitter: GarLipow > Grist Blog: http://www.grist.org/member/1598 > Static page: http://www.nohairshirts.com > _______________________________________________ > pen-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l > -- Robert Naiman Policy Director Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org [email protected] Urge Congress to Support a Timetable for Military Withdrawal from Afghanistan http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/feingold-mcgovern _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
