Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- Glenn Reynolds: The route continues, but be ready for the counterattack. Like Sherman's historic race to the sea - Trump is having a historic race through the federal bureaucracy.
- Bring back the draft (well sort of). Not a fan of a draft but can't fault the argument here.
- A DC court sanctions climate scientist Michael Mann and his lawyers for misconduct.
- Matt Taibbi's interview of FIRE's counsel Tyler Coward. Long but interesting read.
That Wade guy is an idiot. Not content with stealing your money he insists that a government be allowed to steal your lifetime so you can learn old tricks that conservatives never forgot and that liberals never learn and that the rich will exempt themselves and their progeny from. No thanks.
ReplyDeleteThink Mike's argument is tongue in cheek. Sure the melting pot aspect is missed but besides the anti-war sentiment what really killed the draft was rampant drug use in the military ruining the military for those who wanted to be there. You can't dwell on the good without acknowledging the bad.
ReplyDeleteActually Wade makes a pretty good point about about the military fostering unity, putting people from different social classes together to work toward a common goal. In my experience I think it did me good to be surrounded mostly by draftees and thus meet people from very different backgrounds.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, mandatory service is a form of slavery -- you certainly can't quit your job if you don't like it. To paraphrase Spider Robinson, you are required "to go wherever they tell you to go and kill whomever they tell you to kill." I would much prefer to see us try Heinlein's idea of federal service: no one is required to serve in the military (or some other kind of rigorous service to the country) but unless you do you are not permitted to vote. His idea was that those who decide public issues and policies should be people who have demonstrated that they care about and wish to preserve their society. Seems like a pretty good idea to me, and would probably accomplish the goal Wade is talking about.
Agree but argue that praise the melting pot aspects without acknowledging the bad is akin to taking the good but ignoring the bad.
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