Monday, April 26, 2004

Re-establish the Military Draft? NO!

Here's a succint Letter from the Ayn Rand Institute...

Dear Editor:

As Senator Chuck Hagel and others call for the re-establishment of
military conscription, it is worth remembering Ayn Rand's words:

"Of all the statist violations of individual rights in a mixed economy,
the military draft is the worst. It is an abrogation of rights. It
negates man's fundamental right--the right to life--and establishes the
fundamental principle of statism: that a man's life belongs to the state,
and the state may claim it by compelling him to sacrifice it in battle.
Once that principle is accepted, the rest is only a matter of time.

If the state may force a man to risk death or hideous maiming and
crippling, in a war declared at the state's discretion, for a cause he may
neither approve of nor even understand, if his consent is not required
to send him into unspeakable martyrdom--then, in principle, all rights
are negated in that state, and its government is not man's protector any
longer. What else is there left to protect?"

David Holcberg
Ayn Rand Institute

Copyright © 2004 Ayn Rand® Institute

No comments: