...it [conscription]
rests on the assumption that your kids belong to the state. If we
buy that assumption then it is for the state - not for parents, the
community, the religious institutions or teachers- to decide who
shall have what values and who shall do what work, when, where and
how in our society. That assumption isn't a new one. The Nazis
thought it was a great idea.
- Ronald Reagan
Though draft protests in the United States pre-date
the Vietnam War by at least 100 years, it's those iconic images of
young people with long hair and funky clothes marching en masse in
the late 60s and early 70s and burning draft cards that generally
frame our consciousness about protesting mandatory military
conscription.
Far from a colorful footnote in American history,
though, this rising chorus of discontent helped put an end to the
draft in 1973. When Richard Nixon promised to end the draft during
his bid for the presidency in 1968, he had motives other than just
ensuring the well-being of America's young men. It was his hope
that ending the draft would swell the anti-war tide (the idea being
that if the young people didn't have to worry about going to war,
they would pipe down). It didn't quite work out that way, but it
does still serve as a lesson in how organized, non-violent dissent
can effect change.
