Editing Conscription (section)

==Arguments against conscription==
{{Hatnote|This section focuses primarily on the United States and not a worldwide view.}}

===Sexism===
{{Main|Sexism and conscription}}

[[Men's rights movement|Men's rights activists]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Messner |first1=Michael A. |title=Politics of Masculinities: Men in Movements |date=20 March 1997 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0-8039-5577-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nG8MGcopgWQC&pg=PA41 |language=en |pages=41–48}}</ref><ref name="BoydLongwood1996">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VSrhNzWb6sIC&pg=PR17|title=Redeeming men: religion and masculinities|publisher=[[Westminster John Knox]] Press|year=1996|isbn=978-0-664-25544-2|editor=Stephen Blake Boyd|page=17|quote=In contradistinction to profeminism, however, the men's rights perspective addresses specific legal and cultural factors that put men at a disadvantage. The movement is made up of a variety of formal and informal groups that differ in their approaches and issues; Men's rights advocates, for example, target sex-specific military conscription and judicial practices that discriminate against men in child custody cases.|editor2=W. Merle Longwood|editor3=Mark William Muesse}}</ref> [[Feminism|feminists]],<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Stephen|first1=Lynn|title=Making the Draft a Women's Issue|journal=Women: A Journal of Liberation|date=1981|volume=8|issue=1|url=http://voices.revealdigital.com/cgi-bin/independentvoices?a=d&d=BGJGDDE19761001.1.59&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN---------------1|access-date=28 March 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Lindsey|first1=Karen|editor1-last=McAllister|editor1-first=Pam|title=Reweaving the Web of Life: Feminism and Nonviolence|date=1982|publisher=New Society Publishers|isbn=0865710163|chapter=Women and the Draft|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/reweavingwebofli00mcal|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/reweavingwebofli00mcal}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Levertov|first1=Denise|title=Candles in Babylon|date=1982|publisher=New Directions Press|isbn=9780811208314|chapter-url=http://www.ndbooks.com/book/candles-in-babylon/|chapter=A Speech: For Antidraft Rally, D.C. March 22, 1980|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/candlesinbabylon00leve}}</ref> and opponents of discrimination against men<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2013/05/when-men-experience-sexism/276355/|title=When Men Experience Sexism|date=May 29, 2013|access-date=April 26, 2015|website=[[The Atlantic]]|last=Berlatsky|first=Noah|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150105151244/http://www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2013/05/when-men-experience-sexism/276355/|url-status=live|archive-date=January 5, 2015}}</ref><ref name="SS" />{{Rp|102}} have criticized military conscription, or compulsory military service, as [[sexist]]. The National Coalition for Men, a [[Men's rights movement|men's rights group]], [[National Coalition for Men v. Selective Service System|sued]] the US [[Selective Service System]] in 2019, leading to it being declared unconstitutional by a US Federal Judge.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Pager|first=Tyler|date=2019-02-24|title=Drafting Only Men for the Military Is Unconstitutional, Judge Rules|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/24/us/military-draft-men-unconstitutional.html|access-date=2020-06-13|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Pager|first=Tyler|date=2019-02-24|title=Drafting Only Men for the Military Is Unconstitutional, Judge Rules|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/24/us/military-draft-men-unconstitutional.html|access-date=2020-08-05|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The federal district judge's opinion was unanimously overturned on appeal to the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit|U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Federal appeals court: Male-only draft is constitutional|website=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/federal-appeals-court-male-draft-constitutional-72350218}}</ref> In September 2021, the House of Representatives passed the annual Defense Authorization Act, which included an amendment that states that "all Americans between the ages of 18 and 25 must register for selective service." This amendment omitted the word "male", which would have extended a potential draft to women; however, the amendment was removed before the National Defense Authorization Act was passed.<ref>{{Cite news|title=House passes defense bill with commission to investigate Afghanistan failures, mandate that women register for draft|language=en-US|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/house-defense-authorization-bill/2021/09/23/ef9c05d2-1bc9-11ec-a99a-5fea2b2da34b_story.html|access-date=28 October 2021|issn=0190-8286}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Turner|first=Trish|date=24 July 2021|title=New legislation would require women, like men, to sign up for potential military draft|url=https://abc7chicago.com/10907316/|access-date=28 October 2021|website=ABC7 Chicago|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Behrmann|first=Savannah|date=8 December 2021|title=Lawmakers kill measure that would have required women to register for the Selective Service|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/12/08/lawmakers-kill-provision-requiring-women-register-draft/6433960001/|access-date=22 January 2022|website=USA Today|language=en}}</ref>

Feminists have argued, first,  that military conscription is sexist because wars serve the interests of what they view as the [[patriarchy]]; second, that the military is a sexist institution and that conscripts are therefore indoctrinated into sexism; and third, that conscription of men normalizes violence by men as socially acceptable.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Michalowski|first1=Helen|title=Five feminist principles and the draft|journal=Resistance News|date=May 1982|issue=8|page=2}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Neudel|first1=Marian Henriquez|title=Feminism and the Draft|journal=Resistance News|date=July 1983|issue=13|page=7}}</ref> Feminists have been organizers and participants in resistance to conscription in several countries.<ref>{{cite periodical |title=Letters from draft-age women about why they wouldn't register for the draft |periodical=Resistance News |date=1 March 1980 |issue=2|page=6}}</ref><ref>{{cite periodical |title=Gestation: Women and Draft Resistance |periodical=Resistance News|date=November 1982|issue=11}}</ref><ref>{{cite periodical |title=Women and the resistance movement |periodical=Resistance News|date=8 June 1986|issue=21}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=No to Equality in Militarism! (Statement of the feminist collective TO MOV co-signed by the Association of Greek Conscientious Objectors)|url=http://antimili-youth.net/articles/2016/02/no-equality-militarism|website=Countering the Militarisation of Youth|publisher=War Resisters International|access-date=28 March 2016}}</ref>

Conscription has also been criticized on the ground that, historically, only men have been subjected to conscription.<ref name="SS">{{Cite book|title=The Second Sexism: Discrimination Against Men and Boys|last=Benatar|first=David|publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]]|isbn=978-0-470-67451-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vdIrkGLHLPsC|author-link=David Benatar|access-date=April 26, 2015|date=May 15, 2012}}</ref><ref>Goldstein, Joshua S. (2003). [https://books.google.com/books?id=XUAsskBg8ywC&pg=PA108 "War and Gender: Men's War Roles – Boyhood and Coming of Age"]. In Ember, Carol R.; Ember, Melvin ''Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender: Men and Women in the World's Cultures''. Volume 1. [[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer]]. p. 108. {{ISBN|978-0-306-47770-6}}. Retrieved April 25, 2015.</ref><ref>Kronsell, Anica (June 29, 2006). [https://books.google.com/books?id=qVcV-JBhoVUC&pg=PA113 "Methods for studying silence: The 'silence' of Swedish conscription"]. In Ackerly, Brooke A.; Stern, Maria; [[Jacqui True|True, Jacqui]] ''Feminist Methodologies for International Relations''. [[Cambridge University Press]]. p. 113. {{ISBN|978-1-139-45873-3}}. Retrieved April 25, 2015.</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Multicultural Citizens, Monocultural Men: Indigineity, Masculinity, and Conscription in Ecuador|last=Selmeski|first=Brian R.|year=2007|isbn=978-0-549-40315-9|location=[[Syracuse University]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nv8_omV87vkC&pg=PA149|page=149|access-date=April 25, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=The Changing Face of European Conscription|last=Joenniemi|first=Pertti|publisher=[[Ashgate Publishing]]|year=2006|isbn=978-0-754-64410-1|pages=142–49|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hwaa7jKmE_IC&pg=PA149|access-date=April 25, 2015}}</ref> Men who opt out or are deemed unfit for military service must often perform alternative service, such as [[Zivildienst]] in [[Austria]], [[Germany]] and [[Switzerland]], or pay extra taxes,<ref>{{Cite web|title=RS 661.1 Ordonnance du 30 août 1995 sur la taxe d'exemption de l'obligation de servir (OTEO)|url=https://www.admin.ch/opc/fr/classified-compilation/19950245/index.html|access-date=2020-06-13|website=www.admin.ch}}</ref> whereas women do not have these obligations. In the US, men who do not register with the Selective Service cannot apply for citizenship, receive federal financial aid, grants or loans, be employed by the federal government, be admitted to public colleges or universities, or, in some states, obtain a driver's license.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Korte|first=Gregory|title=For a million U.S. men, failing to register for the draft has serious, long-term consequences|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/04/02/failing-register-draft-women-court-consequences-men/3205425002/|access-date=2020-06-13|website=USA Today|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Selective Service {{!}} USAGov|url=https://www.usa.gov/selective-service|access-date=2020-06-13|website=www.usa.gov|language=en}}</ref>

===Involuntary servitude===
[[File:Anti Civil War Draft Rioters in Lexington Avenue New York 1863.jpg|thumb|200px|Rioters attacking a building during the [[New York City draft riots|New York anti-draft riots]] of 1863]]
Many [[American libertarian]]s oppose conscription and call for the abolition of the [[Selective Service System]], arguing that [[impressment]] of individuals into the armed forces amounts to [[involuntary servitude]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dehnbase.org/lpus/library/platform/catm.html|title=Conscription and the Military|work=Libertarian Party|publisher=www.dehnbase.org}}</ref> For example, [[Ron Paul]], a former U.S. [[Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarian Party]] presidential nominee,  has said that conscription "is wrongly associated with [[patriotism]], when it really represents slavery and involuntary servitude".<ref>U.S. Representative [[Ron Paul]] [http://antiwar.com/paul/?articleid=5651 Conscription Is Slavery], antiwar.com, January 14, 2003.</ref> The philosopher [[Ayn Rand]] opposed conscription, opining that "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."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/draft.html|title=Draft|work=aynrandlexicon.com|access-date=15 October 2016}}</ref>

In 1917, a number of radicals{{who|date=May 2021}} and anarchists, including [[Emma Goldman]], challenged the new draft law in federal court, arguing that it was a violation of the [[Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Thirteenth Amendment]]'s prohibition against slavery and involuntary servitude. However, the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] unanimously upheld the constitutionality of the draft act in the case of ''[[Arver v. United States]]'' on 7 January 1918, on the ground that the [[Constitution of the United States|Constitution]] gives [[United States Congress|Congress]] the power to [[declare war]] and to raise and support armies. The Court also relied on the principle of the reciprocal rights and duties of citizens. "It may not be doubted that the very conception of a just government in its duty to the citizen includes the reciprocal obligation of the citizen to render military service in case of need and the right to compel."<ref>John Whiteclay Chambers II, ''To Raise an Army: The Draft Comes to Modern America'' (1987) pp. 219–20</ref>

===Economic===
It can be argued that in a [[benefit–cost ratio|cost-to-benefit ratio]], conscription during peacetime is not worthwhile.<ref>Henderson, David R. "[http://econjwatch.org/issues/volume-2-issue-2-august-2005 The Role of Economists in Ending the Draft]" (August 2005).</ref> Months or years of service performed by the most fit and capable subtract from the productivity of the economy; add to this the cost of training them, and in some countries paying them. Compared to these extensive costs, some would argue there is very little benefit; if there ever was a war then conscription and basic training could be completed quickly, and in any case there is little threat of a war in most countries with conscription. In the United States, every male resident is required by law to register with the [[Selective Service System]] within 30 days following his 18th birthday and be available for a draft; this is often accomplished automatically by a motor vehicle department during licensing or by voter registration.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Seago |first=Laura |date=2009 |title=Automatic Registration in the United States: The Selective Service Example |url=https://www.brennancenter.org/sites/default/files/2019-08/Report_Automatic-Registration-in-the-US-Selective-Service-Example.pdf |journal=Brennan Center for Justice}}</ref>

According to [[Milton Friedman]] the cost of conscription can be related to the [[parable of the broken window]] in anti-draft arguments. The cost of the work, military service, does not disappear even if no salary is paid. The work effort of the conscripts is effectively wasted, as an unwilling workforce is extremely inefficient. The impact is especially severe in wartime, when civilian professionals are forced to fight as amateur soldiers. Not only is the work effort of the conscripts wasted and productivity lost, but professionally skilled conscripts are also difficult to replace in the civilian workforce. Every soldier conscripted in the army is taken away from his civilian work, and away from contributing to the economy which funds the military. This may be less a problem in an agrarian or pre-industrialized state where the level of education is generally low, and where a worker is easily replaced by another. However, this is potentially more costly in a [[post-industrial society]] where educational levels are high and where the workforce is sophisticated and a replacement for a conscripted specialist is difficult to find. Even more dire economic consequences result if the professional conscripted as an amateur soldier is killed or maimed for life; his work effort and productivity are lost.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://oll.libertyfund.org/?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=2136&chapter=195469&layout=html&Itemid=27#c_NIR_1360-016_footnote_nt1046 |title=Why Not a Volunteer Army? |access-date=September 11, 2008 |first=Milton |last=Friedman |year=1967 |work=New Individualist Review|author-link=Milton Friedman }}</ref>