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TygrBright

(20,733 posts)
Wed Jan 31, 2018, 02:33 PM Jan 2018

Draft "Dodger" vs Draft "Resister": A not-so-subtle difference

Just a refresher, and maybe a primer for you young peeps who were born too late to worry about your lottery number:

A draft "resister" describes a person who actively sought, based on a variety of principles, to circumvent, and/or eliminate the draft. Some of the methods resisters used:

Seeking Conscientious Objector status (and lemme tellya, that was NOT easy to get. If you sought it, and were not granted it, your number was up and if you refused to go, you faced jail)

Publicly burning draft cards as a statement against the institution of the draft, or against the particular war that conscription was a tool for prosecuting

Fleeing the country and living as an exile to avoid being part of a military intervention with which they had ethical or moral issues

Facilitating the resistance of others by providing sanctuary and or assistance in fleeing the country, registering as a Conscientious Objector, or working with many of the anti-draft and/or anti-war organizations

Simply refusing to go, and/or fleeing, and facing jail for refusal. Yes, many DID serve time, in jails, prisons, and stockades


A draft "dodger" describes a person who didn't give a rat's ass about the political and ethical principles at stake, they just wanted to save their own ass. Some of the methods resisters used:

Seeking college deferments. Often more than once

Seeking other forms of deferment

Using family influence to circumvent the lottery

Inventing and/or displaying real or faked medical conditions as a means of obtaining deferment


Personally, I have considerable sympathy for both during the Viet Nam war. Conscription enabled the United States to make a terrible error that was fatal for more than 60,000 Americans and millions of Southeast Asian men, women, and children. By the time we were up to our necks in it, there were plenty of clear justifications beyond cowardice for dodging the draft, even if the person doing the dodging wasn't necessarily interested in becoming part of the larger resistance fight.

Finally, however, there IS a third category: the "Chickenhawk". This is the individual who never met a war they didn't enthusiastically fund, support, and/or profit from, as long as neither they, nor their offspring, were required to actually put their own asses in the firing line.

Hope this will clear up some of the confusion regarding what it is, and isn't, nice (or accurate) to call people and why.

helpfully,
Bright
6 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Draft "Dodger" vs Draft "Resister": A not-so-subtle difference (Original Post) TygrBright Jan 2018 OP
thank you! Hermit-The-Prog Jan 2018 #1
And the damage is still going on in Laos. iscooterliberally Jan 2018 #2
A principled stance against any military draft would be inspiring. Orsino Jan 2018 #3
I do not agree with your tone here: ExciteBike66 Jan 2018 #4
As noted in the OP, I have considerable sympathy with the draft dodgers of the era... TygrBright Jan 2018 #5
Ok, so long as we are on the same page! ExciteBike66 Jan 2018 #6

Orsino

(37,428 posts)
3. A principled stance against any military draft would be inspiring.
Wed Jan 31, 2018, 02:45 PM
Jan 2018

An opportunist who always took the easy way out of everything, who went on to dabble in politics by pretending he has ever served the people, is just pathetic.

ExciteBike66

(2,280 posts)
4. I do not agree with your tone here:
Wed Jan 31, 2018, 02:48 PM
Jan 2018

"A draft "dodger" describes a person who didn't give a rat's ass about the political and ethical principles at stake, they just wanted to save their own ass."

We have to remember that the people we are talking about are 17-18 year-olds, for the most part. I remember myself at that age, and I do not think we ought to be so harsh on those who might not have thought deeply about ethics and morality.

Personally, I would re-write your post to include the two categories "draft-dodger" (or "-resistor" ) and Chickenhawk, because those are the two categories that really matter in a practical sense.

Also, even if we impute a deep knowledge of morality on these kids, I still wouldn't be so harsh on the ones who are scared and don't want to get hurt. This is a completely natural state of mind, and I would point out that if more people felt this way perhaps the world would be a less violent place.

TygrBright

(20,733 posts)
5. As noted in the OP, I have considerable sympathy with the draft dodgers of the era...
Wed Jan 31, 2018, 02:54 PM
Jan 2018

And personally, I don't see much downside in saving your own ass from a stupid, evil meatgrinder propagated to benefit the military-industrial oligarchs' bank accounts and their politician helots' electoral careers.

Had I been subject to the draft by the qualification of having a "Y" chromosome, I would myself have been in that category. Members of my family served. Members of my family were resisters. Members of my family dodged.

And as noted, the third category, "chickenhawks" transcends any kind of morally-defensible motivation, so it stands on its own.

There are, fortunately, no chickenhawks in my family to be ashamed of.

explicatorially,
Bright

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