The Voluntary Service of Citizens in the Armed Forces Essay

The Voluntary Service of Citizens in the Armed Forces - Essay Example Many nations, including the United States, although reliant on voluntary service still do reserve the right to impose a draft. The debate on whether a draft should, at some time, be reinstated is often a discussion drawn between positive (â€Å"what is†) and normative (â€Å"what ought to be†) considerations: the distinction between whether it is economically feasible, objectively necessary, or ultimately practical and whether it is morally justifiable, philosophically contradictory (for a country committed to freedom like the United States), or politically oppressive. To make the argument for or against the draft, a discussant must address both aspects of the issue. Put in this context, the practice of conscription is at once positively and normatively unjustifiable: not only does it create an inferior fighting force, making it ineffective at accomplishing its goals, but it is a severe violation of the individual’s freedom that a government exists to protect. On the normative side, the military draft (or conscription) is a defining feature of totalitarian regimes, having been imposed by and large in the totalitarian countries and their dictators throughout history. Napoleon and Bismarck serve as two examples of despots willing to sacrifice individuals for the state. Having been instituted by these aggressive leaders and countries, the military draft carries with it aggressive force. By â€Å"aggressive force†, one means the force applied to countries other than one’s own, and not in self-defense. It is doubtful, after all, that in the event of a large-scale invasion of a country, that the country will have to force its citizens to fight to save their own lives unless of course it is ruled by a dictatorial regime unworthy of its citizens’ defense. One cannot consistently hold that individuals have rights to self-determination and individual liberties and yet that the state has the right to make them null and void.  

Ralph Waldo Emerson Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Ralph Waldo Emerson - Essay Example Majority of Emerson’s works are in form of essays and poems. He published his first essay titled Nature in 1836 but he refrained from giving his name to the essay. The author of the essay was given as anonymous. In Nature, Emerson portrayed nature as a divine entity and its significance in the spiritual lives of human beings. He gave a meaning to the role played by nature in human lives. He describes the various facets of nature and its relation with wise man. â€Å"Nature never wears a mean appearance. Neither does the wisest man extort her secret, and lose his curiosity by finding out all her perfection. Nature never became a toy to a wise spirit.† (Emerson Nature). Emerson also states his own experiences when he is in company of the nature. When he amidst nature, he feels the presence of God around him and he perceives himself as a part of God. â€Å"Standing on the bare ground, -- my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space, -- all mean egoti sm vanishes. I become a transparent eye-ball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God.† (Emerson Nature).The spiritual aspect of nature which was a new concept to the American society was put forth by Emerson in his essay. In another essay focusing on nature, Emerson writes about the influence of nature in aiding human beings to free themselves from the bindings of the Church and society.