The Useless 13th Amendment

The 13th Amendment to the Constitution reads:

1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation

Perhaps this language is not clear enough because the calls for national service, i.e., State-sponsored slavery, are growing louder. Manuel Lora of LRC posts this about Time Magazine's call for two years of mandatory service. Truth be told, the US government desecrated this amendment with conscription, first during the War Against Southern Independence, followed by WWI, WWII, and the Vietnam War, and probably some other wars that I have not studied yet. This should not be a surprise, for the State always has one set of rules for its subjects and another for its own agents. People who own other humans and force them to do labor in the private sphere is a great moral evil, yet those who force people to fight and die in wars in distant countries are only great statesmen who are protecting our country, and those who coerce people to labor for the State are only patriots trying to inspire national pride. And you wonder why radicals like myself hate the State so much?

The truth is that as long as mankind is what it is, there will always be people who want to force others to do their bidding. Many of these oppressors will argue that such service is for the public good. It moves citizens from their selfish pursuits of individual liberty and compels them to become more selfless; some slave owners argued similarly that slavery was good for blacks because it made them better people. However, without the State the slave trade would not have existed or at least would have occurred on a much smaller scale, for those who were sold into slavery were peoples conquered by kings and rulers. Today, if there were no State, there would be no power extant which could coerce people to serve it. There would not exist a monopoly on violence which could be used by some to force others to do their bidding.

As I posted yesterday, the dominant ideology of the American Revolution was not "Ask what you can do for your country," but "Ask what your country could do for you." Most Americans at the time believed that the answer to the latter question was "Leave us the hell alone!" This is what the men of the Revolution fought and died for. They truly believed in New Hampshire's motto "Live free or die." The vast majority of Americans no longer believe in this and would rather live lives of peaceful servitude than dangerous freedom.

UPDATE: Per the comments, I did some research and there was some conscription during the American Revolution according to this site, but it was on a much smaller scale because there was no central government. I guess it's hard to hold such pure beliefs when bullets start flying.

Comments

[mandr410]

Like you, I am also against a draft. But, my first thought is that your example of our Founders being against conscription is off-base. I believe we have had a draft plan since George Washington's days.

Time for some research for me......

[Brutus]

I haven't seen any evidence of a draft during the American Revolution, but I am more than willing to be educated.

[mandr410]

Thanks for the education, Brutus!

I never knew there was conscription during the American Revolution. I was thinking of the Conscription Act of 1793 - which was, according to the History Channel (http://www.history.com/encyclopedia.do?vendorId=FWNE.fw..co202100.a), the Militia Act of 1792.

[trevor]

My simple rule is this: You don't need to compel people to fight for a just cause.

I'm interested in exploring a debate discussing how effective the abolition of a standing federal army - where we would be left to defend ourselves/privatize defense - would be.

[mandr410]

Sounds like an interesting discussion.

I gotta say I'm more inclined to fear the militarization of our law enforcement than the couple houndred thousand strong government military we have.

I've never been treated with disrespect by a soldier. Can't say that for the pigs that are supposed to Serve and Protect.

[trevor]

Good point. There is absolutely no justification for government police other than to collect revenue on behalf of the state and keep the sheep in line.