Today I saw an email recently sent me by the progressive group RootsAction.org, urging me to support one bill pertaining to military conscription while opposing another. Having previously arrived at my own views on how people committed to emancipatory politics should address the current male-only draft, I sent my own message to my federal legislators, then wrote RootsAction as follows:
Hello!
I received your communication concerning HR 6415 and HR 5492.
Your position on the first of these is not consistent with my commitment to sexual equality. Consequently, instead of using the link in the email I wrote Rep. Boyle and Sens. Casey and Toomey directly via their websites, as follows:
"As a supporter of individual liberty and sexual equality, I am interested in two bills currently in the House: H.R. 5492 and H.R. 6415. The first would abolish the Selective Service system while the second would expand it to include women.
"I am opposed to military conscription and urge you to vote for H.R. 5492 if it comes to a vote in the House[Senate] or in any committee on which you sit.
"At the same time, it is unacceptable that the present system discriminates against men. I believe that, much as the college deferment dampened opposition to the draft during the Vietnam era -- by shielding middle-class families who had more political voice from its impact -- so the current female exemption dampens opposition to the Selective Service system by shielding "cherishable" women while targeting "disposable" men in accordance with the preferences of our gynocentric culture. Therefore, if you have occasion to vote on H.R. 6415 while the Selective Service system is still in existence, I urge you also to vote FOR it -- on the grounds of simple justice, but also because I believe its passage would actually hasten the system's complete abolition."
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