Conscription and the War Tax

by Dr. Gerard Emershaw

Veteran New York Congressman Charlie Rangel has recently proposed a new military draft and a “war tax” as methods of dealing with the Islamic State situation in Iraq and Syria. Rangel has long been an advocate of military conscription and other forms of non-military compulsory government service for young Americans. Rangel claims that a draft and a “war tax” would cause the majority of Americans to “feel” the consequences of military action against the Islamic State. He has long felt that a small minority of Americans endure the suffering connected with war.

The first national draft in the United States took place during the Civil War. While conscription produced a small minority of the total number of Union soldiers employed against the Confederacy, the attempt to enforce the law making all American males between the ages of 20 and 45 draft eligible led to the most destructive civil disturbance in New York City history on July 13, 1863. At least 119 died in the riots. Wealthy individuals were able to avoid serving if drafted by paying for a replacement. Theodore Roosevelt’s father famously did this, inspiring the future president to seek family redemption by seeking military adventure. Congress passed the Selective Service Act on May 18, 1917 in order to raise the manpower necessary to fight the unpopular Great War—only about 100,000 of the 1 million men needed volunteered prior to the reinstatement of hte military draft. The draft remained active through World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. No soldiers have been drafted in the United States since 1973. President Nixon campaigned on ending the draft and favored ending conscription as a means of neutering the antiwar movement. Unfortunately, it seems likely that the antiwar activists during the Vietnam War were mainly interested in protecting themselves and their loved ones from being drafted and forced to fight and die against their will.

Conscription is a violation of the natural right to liberty. The government has no right to force an individual to join the military against his or her will let alone to force an individual to fight, risk life and limb, and kill in a war. Forcing an individual to join the military not only violates the right to liberty but also potentially the right to life as all wars have fatalities. Conscription also violates the right to property as conscripted soldiers are forced to leave jobs and other business interests during the period of forced military service. Thus, conscription violates all three prongs of the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. It also violates the Thirteenth Amendment, which outlaws slavery. What is being forced under penalty of law to join the armed forces and fight in a war if not literal slavery?

Rangel’s “war tax” proposal is a bit less egregious than his conscription proposal. “War taxes” are nothing new in American history. For example, a telephone tax was created in 1898 to help pay for the Spanish-American War. This tax was not completely abolished until 2006. At present the unconstitutional wars in the Middle East are being funded by increasing national debt and the Federal Reserve’s “inflation tax.” Wars need to be funded somehow—either now or with interest down the line. Placing a tax on those who benefit—defense contractors, oil companies, etc.—would seem just, but paying these taxes would ultimately just be passed onto American taxpayers. However, if the federal government were forced to stop using its “fiscal illusions” to hide the true cost of wars from taxpayers, then it is likely that the people would oppose most wars.

While conscription is immoral and should properly be viewed as unconstitutional, there exists what is in effect a de facto draft. By destroying the economy through burdensome taxes and regulations and corporatist machinations, the federal government has forced many young Americans to join the military because there are so few economic opportunities for young people—particularly young people in lower socioeconomic classes. Military personnel and veterans should be honored for the courageous service and the sacrifices that they make defending the Republic. However, forcing desperate young Americans to serve in the military and then using them in cynical, unconstitutional, corporatist wars to protect the interests of crony capitalists and foreign despots is unacceptable and positively Un-American.

(For a much more detailed discussion of the natural rights to life, liberty, and property as well as taxation, read my new book The Real Culture War: Individualism vs. Collectivism & How Bill O’Reilly Got It All Wrong. Available now on Amazon in both print and Kindle.)