The Military Draft should be abolished

Thanks, Lannan. The burden of proof in this debate is entirely on me to show that the military draft should be abolished (i.e. that the government should not be allowed to forcibly conscript citizens under any conditions). My constructive case will be somewhat brief. C1) Rights Violation I doubt that my opponent will contest the notion that one of the primary roles of a government is to protect the rights of its citizens (though I will certainly provide more elaborate philosophical support for that premise if he chooses to contest it). The most fundamental natural right of all is ownership over your own self, and, simply put, the military draft is a clear violation of this. By forcing me to do *anything* against my will, the government is effectively violating my right to self-autonomy. Of course, there are some exceptions to this rule; we allow ourselves to be coerced into paying taxes, following speed limits, and servicing jury duty, but only because these minor restrictions are necessary for more effective protection of our rights. It becomes Con's burden of proof, then, to show that a military draft is similarly necessary for the protection of our rights. However, I will pre-emptively bring up a point that basically renders any such justification of the military draft's rights violation to be unfeasible: there is oftentimes a significant chance of death involved when it comes to military conscription-- a significant chance that the government would have *directly* caused a violation of my right to life. In other words, there is virtually no way that the military draft's rights violation could be "necessary for more effective protection of our rights, as it just brings yet another fundamental right into jeopardy. Therefore, the military draft is , indeed, an unjustified rights violation, so by keeping it legal, we are allowing the government to directly violate the very rights that it exists to protect; this is completely contradictory and serves as sufficient reason on its own to abolish the military draft. C2) Utilitarian Critique Con may attempt to undermine my rights-based critique of the military draft by appealing to utilitarian benefits of enforcing it. To avoid having this debate devolving into ethical discourse (deontology vs utilitarianism), I will show that the enforcement of the military draft is untenable even from the utilitarian standpoint. Firstly, it has been noted by reputable research institutes as well as military leaders themselves that an army composed of volunteers who have joined of their own volition is far more effective than a conscripted army: "The all-volunteer force has had immense success in drawing highly motivated individuals... America's military leadership is adamantly opposed to instituting a new draft. The generals and admirals argue that a draft would weaken mission capability and create enormous structural and management problems. Morale and force cohesiveness would suffer intensely, particularly with a two-caste military." [1]. Secondly, the social tension created by the possibility of yourself or your loved ones getting drafted to the battlefront at any time is quite damaging to a country's national morale and unity, as seen from the numerous draft riots that have occurred throughout the United States' history of military conscription [2]. ============================= In conclusion, I have offered two compelling reasons to abolish the military draft: it contradicts the purpose of government, which is to protect our rights, and even from a utilitarian standpoint, the military draft creates a net loss in utility. Con must refute both of these arguments in order to negate the resolution. As of now, the resolution is affirmed. [1] http://www.heritage.org... [2] http://www.press.uchicago.edu...