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Milton Friedman on The draft and the volunteer army

So long as compulsion is retained, inequity, waste, and interference with freedom are inevitable. A lottery would only make the arbitrary element in the present system overt. Universal national service would only compound the evil—regimenting all young men, and perhaps women, to camouflage the regimentation of some.

Context. From a paper he gave at a conference on the draft at the University of Chicago in December 1966, arguing that the United States should move to an all-volunteer armed force. His case is for peacetime: in the same paper he grants that “for a major war, a strong case can be made for compulsory service.”

Why Not a Voluntary Army?
Journal article, 1966, Paper for the conference on the draft held at the University of Chicago in December 1966, sponsored by the Ford Foundation and chaired by Sol Tax; reprinted in full in the Congressional Record, House, March 9, 1967, pp. 6098 to 6100, inserted by Representative Donald Rumsfeld among four conference papers on a voluntary army., Congressional Record, March 9, 1967, p. 6099
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Milton Friedman, “Why Not a Voluntary Army?” (Paper for the conference on the draft held at the University of Chicago in December 1966, sponsored by the Ford Foundation and chaired by Sol Tax; reprinted in full in the Congressional Record, House, March 9, 1967, pp. 6098 to 6100, inserted by Representative Donald Rumsfeld among four conference papers on a voluntary army., 1966), Congressional Record, March 9, 1967, p. 6099. https://miltonfriedman.org/quotes/so-long-as-compulsion-retained-inequity-waste-1966

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He also said

  1. A lottery would only make the arbitrary element overt. Universal national service would compound the evil—regimenting all youth to camouflage the regimentation of some.

    Context. Follows directly on his case that the draft is inequitable, wasteful and inconsistent with a free society. Three years later the draft lottery was adopted.

    A Volunteer Army
    Column, 1966, Newsweek (December 19, 1966); reprinted in the Congressional Record, Senate, January 22, 1969, p. 1438, under the heading “From Newsweek magazine, Dec. 19, 1966”. Later collected in An Economist’s Protest (1972)., Congressional Record, January 22, 1969, p. 1438
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  2. The draft is inequitable because irrelevant considerations play so large a role in determining who serves. It is wasteful because deferment of students, fathers and married men jams colleges, raises the birth rate and fuels divorce courts. It is inconsistent with a free society because it exacts compulsory service from some and limits the freedom of others to travel abroad, emigrate or even to talk and act freely. So long as compulsion is retained, these defects are inevitable.

    Context. From a Newsweek column of December 1966 arguing that the United States should end conscription and man its armed forces with volunteers.

    A Volunteer Army
    Column, 1966, Newsweek (December 19, 1966); reprinted in the Congressional Record, Senate, January 22, 1969, p. 1438, under the heading “From Newsweek magazine, Dec. 19, 1966”. Later collected in An Economist’s Protest (1972)., Congressional Record, January 22, 1969, p. 1438
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  3. It is tempting, at first sight, to escape the obvious inequity and arbitrariness of a system of selective military service by including all young people and assigning them to a wider range of national tasks, such as service in hospitals, schools, slum areas, national parks and so on. That would equalize the burden of compulsory service while at the same time staffing the military.

    Context. From a 1979 Newsweek column answering renewed proposals, after the end of the draft, to require a period of military or civilian service from every young American. He sets out the case for universal national service here before rejecting it.

    Universal National Service
    Column, 1979, Newsweek (1979); reprinted in the Congressional Record, Extensions of Remarks, May 15, 1979, p. 11349, introduced by Representative Ron Paul of Texas, who says Friedman “recently” made these arguments “in Newsweek.” The reprint gives no issue date and omits part of the opening paragraph, Congressional Record, May 15, 1979, p. 11349
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