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Milton Friedman on The draft and the volunteer army

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.
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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  1. No. However appealing at first sight, universal national service is a monstrosity utterly inconsistent with a free society. It should be shunned like the plague it is.
    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
    Checked against the sourceRead the original
  2. The comparison is not fanciful. The young who are conscripted for “good” purposes must be given basic training. Who decides what that shall consist of? What ideas shall they be indoctrinated with? What purposes are “good”? Someone has to assign the youngsters to various activities. Someone has to enforce discipline on them. What a power to fall into the wrong hands. What a power for the wrong hands to seek.
    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
    Checked against the sourceRead the original
  3. The well-meaning current sponsors of universal national service will recoil at that prospect. They would insist on letting the youngsters choose for themselves how they serve. That is what happens now, via the market system, in which market wages equate supply and demand. But universal national service is meaningless unless it involves equal pay—which also means control and direction of labor.
    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
    Checked against the sourceRead the original

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