Ron Fournier Hates Freedom

Over at National Journal, Ron Fournier thinks a national service program would be a great idea:

I know a better way to fight ISIS. It starts with an idea that should appeal the better angels of both hawks and doves: National service for all 18- to 28-year-olds.

Fournier thinks this will accomplish two goals

Require virtually every young American—the civic-minded millennial generation—to complete a year of service through programs such as Teach for America, AmeriCorps, the Peace Corps, or the U.S. military, and two things will happen:

1. Virtually every American family will become intimately invested in the nation’s biggest challenges, including poverty, education, income inequality, and America’s place in a world afire.

Yes, why allow young people to pursue petty personal goals like getting an education, starting a family, or something totally crass like working for a living, when the government could force them into working on one of Ron Fournier’s favorite projects instead?

And as is usually the case with people who have neat ideas for stuff other people can be “required” to do, Fournier brushes past the details about what will happen to people who refuse to cooperate. What does Fournier propose to do if young people don’t want to give up a year of their lives for this? What if they don’t sign up for the program? What if they never show up for intake? If history is any guide, the plan is probably to send men with guns to snatch them up and lock them in a cage.

“Do this or go to jail!” That’s national service in a nutshell.

2. Military recruiting will rise to meet threats posed by ISIS and other terrorist networks, giving more people skin in a very dangerous game.

The whole point of national defense is that the rest of us can go on about our lives without having skin in any dangerous games.

But apparently Fournier wants us to have a lot of skin in the game, because he clearly regards national service as a political compromise that falls short of what he really wants:

This may seem like a radical plan until you compare it with two alternatives: the status quo, which clearly isn’t working, or a military draft, which might be the boldest and fairest way to wage the long war against Islamic extremists.

Fournier’s argument is the standard liberal argument for conscription:

Also understand that a sustained fight against ISIS would demand a new stream of troops. This country has already asked too much of too few.

The key is asked, not forced. And apparently we have not in fact “asked too much” of the troops because every one of them could refuse, yet they keep answering the call.

Fournier’s appeal for modern slavery includes quotes from the usual suspects, Rangel and McCrystal:

One way to truly level the costs would be to reinstate the military draft and impose a war tax, the cause of liberal New York Democrat Charles Rangel, an 84-year-old Korean War veteran. “When I served, the entire nation shared the sacrifices through the draft and increased taxes, but today, only a fraction of America shoulders the burden,” he said.

First of all, 18-year old males who couldn’t get a deferment is not “the entire nation,” and second, if taxes count as shouldering the burden, then we’re all shouldering the burden now because our taxes pay our soldiers.

Not incidentally, thirty-six thousand Americans soldiers died in Charlie Rangel’s Korean War, and another fifty-eight thousand in the Vietnam war. In the 40+ years since conscription ended, however, fewer than 8000 soldiers have died in our wars. The burden borne by our soldiers is a lot smaller now.

McChrystal is even worse:

Second, if this president or his successor gets serious about ISIS, McChrystal said the effort would require an international coalition and more U.S. troops. “Even if we didn’t need a draft” to drum up the required troops, McChrystal said, “I would argue we need a draft, because it forces national commitment.”

What, democracy isn’t good enough for you? You can’t make a persuasive argument to Congress and get the American people to go along with your plans, so you want to jail anyone who doesn’t want to join your war? Yeah, drafting young men forces national commitment to war like drugging and raping your date forces her to commit to the relationship.

“A problem in America is we’ve let the concept of citizenship diminish into a series of gripes,” McChrystal told me. “One of the ways we can rebuild that sense of ownership, sense of shared ownership, is through experience, and so I believe that every young person deserves—I don’t think this is an onerous thing—deserves the experience of being part of something bigger than themselves.”

There are lots of ways to be part of something bigger than yourself: Work for a company, play a team sport, join a church, start a family. Or join a political movement that aims to keep people like Fournier and McChrystal as far away from the levers of power as possible.

What really blows my mind about Fournier’s position is that he apparently supports raising the minimum wage. For example, he had this to say about an Obama proposal:

He proposed raising the minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $9 an hour and providing preschool to all 4-year-olds–poll-tested programs that would indisputably help the working poor and rising middle-class.

So…if 18-year-old Johnny graduates from high school and is offered an entry-level job at $8.50 an hour, Ron Fournier thinks it should be against the law, even if Johnny is completely willing to work for that pay. On the other hand, if Johnny refuses to join the Army (which pays about the same), Ron Fournier wants to use threats of violence and incarceration to force Johnny to take that job against his will.

Think about that for a minute. What’s the principle at work here? About all I can come up with is that Ron Fournier hates freedom.

(Hat tip, @Popehat for the pointer to the Fournier piece, and Don Boudreaux for the idea of checking Fournier’s position on the minimum wage.)