Military Conscription is Just

Resolved: Military conscription is just Overview: As Justice has been defined as "righteousness, equitableness, or moral rightness" it is clear that my burden in this debate is to demonstrate the morality of conscription. I will therefore, give a brief explanation of how morality is determined, then observe in detail the topic at hand. An Intro To Morality: Utilitarianism Morality delves into what ought to be rather than what is. Henry Sidgwick rightly points out a typical flaw made when determining what ought to be done, or in other words, what is ethical. “we frequently prescribe that this or that `ought' to be done or aimed at without any express reference to an ulterior end,” (1) As John Stuart Mill says “All action is for the sake of some end. ” In order to determine what we ought do we must observe what the results will be from that action. What ends are produced? “all the rules of conduct which men prescribe to one another as moral rules are really---though in part unconsciously---prescribed as a means to the general happiness of mankind,” Henry Sidgwick (2)This is basic utilitarianism, The Greatest good for the greatest number. We see then that morality is based in the ends of an action; that is to say, the results. Conscription: “Conscription, or drafting, is the compulsory enlistment of people in a national service, most often a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names. The modern system of near-universal national conscription for young men dates to the French Revolution in the 1790s, where it became the basis of a very large and powerful military. Most European nations later copied the system in peacetime, so that men at a certain age would serve 1–8 years on active duty and then transfer to the reserve force. ” (3) The Ends (or morality) of Conscription: 1) Drafts mitigate the indignation that exists in unequal societies. William James rightly demonstrates how conscription has this affect in his essay “The Moral Equivalent of War. ” He states, “that so many men, by mere accidents of birth and opportunity, should have a life of nothing else but toil and pain and hardness and inferiority imposed upon them, should have no vacation, while others natively no more deserving never get any taste of this campaigning life at all, — this is capable of arousing indignation in reflective minds. It may end by seeming shameful to all of us that some of us have nothing but campaigning, and others nothing but unmanly ease. If now — and this is my idea — there were, instead of military conscription, a conscription of the whole youthful population to form for a certain number of years a part of the army enlisted against Nature, the injustice would tend to be evened out, and numerous other goods to the commonwealth would remain blind as the luxurious classes now are blind, to man's relations to the globe he lives on, and to the permanently sour and hard foundations of his higher life. .. ”(4) 2) Drafts help the development of people in society. William James goes on to say; “The results of such a draft would be our gilded youths be drafted off… to get the childishness knocked out of them, and to come back into society with healthier sympathies and soberer ideas. They would have paid their blood-tax, done their own part in the immemorial human warfare against nature; they would tread the earth more proudly” (4) 3) Drafts bear “moral Fruits” “Such a conscription, with the state of public opinion that would have required it, and the many moral fruits it would bear, would preserve in the midst of a pacific civilization the manly virtues which the military party is so afraid of seeing disappear in peace. We should get toughness without callousness, authority with as little criminal cruelty as possible, and painful work done cheerily because the duty is temporary, and threatens not, as now, to degrade the whole remainder of one's life. I spoke of the "moral equivalent" of war. So far, war has been the only force that can discipline a whole community, and until and equivalent discipline is organized,” (4) Conclusion: As military conscription produces “moral fruits,” mitigates indignation in unequal societies, and helps people develop in society, we see than that it is moral. As Justice has been defined, this argument I have presented affirms that Military conscription is Just. Sources: (1) . http://www.laits.utexas.edu... (2) . http://www.laits.utexas.edu... (3) . https://en.wikipedia.org... (4) . http://www.constitution.org...