The Myth of the Voluntary Military

[wkmac]

Government interference always means either violent action or the threat of such action.… Government is in the last resort the employment of armed men, of policemen, gendarmes, soldiers, prison guards, and hangmen. The essential feature of government is the enforcement of its decrees by beating, killing, and imprisoning. Those who are asking for more government interference are asking ultimately for more compulsion and less freedom.

Ludwig Von Mises

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What about those who are called upon to enforce state edicts, whether just or unjust? Every society includes people who are willing to act as the coercive arm of the state, those who are willing to use violence and freely risk their lives as they administer the law. The state has no great trouble recruiting policemen and prison guards. Are there enough such people to amass a huge army of hundreds of thousands of people who are willing to risk their lives carrying out destructive foreign wars of dubious merit?

The Myth of the Voluntary Military

 

[rod]

The "Voluntary Military" isn't a myth----thats just what it is. You volunteer to join the military and do what they do---right or wrong. If you don't believe me I can show you the draft notice I received in 1968. Now that would be the true meaning of what you would call an "Involuntary Military".