Topic: I am a citizen

[Harrycombs]

As far as the draft goes, WW1 was perhaps worse than Vietnam. Speaking out against the draft was in itself illegal, let alone actually draft dodging. A lot of brave people went to jail over it.

Vietan was worse. And by worse I mean by "Political lie" WW1 was nessissary because some nutty German got it into his head to expand his political power by invading other countries. So yes, drafting was appropriate back then. Vietam was nothing more then an excuse at the time for america to flex its political muscle and prove to the world what a bad@$$ it was when there was no real need for it. That's why they had such an outcry from the civilian populous. Because the war meant nothing. There was no values and no real gain from it except to 'look good' in the eyes of the world. And Muhhommad ali was one of those who knew it to be true which was why he rejected the force draft. Sorry for my political rant here Citizen Freddy  just a little history 101.

-X

World War 1 was not necessary at all. Do you really believe Germany was any worse than Britain or France? I would argue that the Germans were the bravest people in the war, being the only group will to take the plunge and surrender to end the fighting. Then they got hit with all of these unfair punishments for a war they didn't even start. If it wasn't for the Serbs and Austrian-Hungarians starting the war, Germany would probably never have gotten involved. The Kaiser entered a war that he was bound by military alliances to fight in. After that, the only reason the US entered the war was because the capitalists kept pushing for it, because they understood the amount of money they could make. Then 10,000s of Americans lost their lives and lot of capitalists got rich by selling to the US government.

World War 1 was the most unnecessary war in history, which is why it is probably the most tragic. If it wasn't for World War 1, WW2 probably would have been avoided as there would have been no vacuum of power. On top of that, the socialist who were pushing for reform were already a major force in Germany who probably would have made Germany a better country. Of course, it was the imperial ambitions of France, Britain, and Germany conflicting with each other as well as ethnic tensions in Eastern Europe that caused the war. But America had no relation to these countries, and it is impossible to say if any side was more morally "right" than the other.



Also Vietnam seemed necessary at them in that they were trying to prove to the world they could contain the communist movement (in fact, the majority of Americans supported the war until we started losing). Of course they couldn't stop communism, but they also had no idea that the communist block was going to collapse on its own at time, so they were determined not to give up. It seemed like a very real danger to American power and the power of the capitalists operating in Asia. Now, what the US did there was definitely evil, but if they had won they would have made some serious gains in power.

Since that is not going to happen as long as our world exists, being a Pacifist is basically being a sheep. Like the Jews in the Holocaust who refused to believe Hitler is going to kill them.

Remember though that the Nazis were promising to give the Jews Palestine (an agreement to send 60,000 of the 500,000 Jews in Germany to Palestine had already been signed), so the Nazis could non-violently purify Europe and give the Jews Israel again, which many Jews at the time agreed with. It seemed like a win-win situation. Of course, it was a lie, but its not surprising so many people fell for it. No one could have imagine that they were actually being sent to their deaths.