Draft Dodger Monument: Only Half Daft
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Canada Plans Draft-Dodger Monument
There are two separate and distinct issues here, and I'm not sure there's an adequate nomenclature to capture them. Perhaps the terms "draft defiance" and "draft evasion" will suffice.
The distinction is absolutely critical. Draft defiance ("Hell no, I won't go!") is indeed an act of the highest heroism that rivals if not exceeds the civil disobedience campaigns during the civil rights era, because the libertarian principle being defended is greater (i.e., "involuntary servitude" versus state-sanctioned discrimination, which, although undeniably evil, is certainly less evil that confiscating someone's life). Those who were brave enough to defend their natural and constitutional right not to be conscripted had the makings of true patriots, and a monument to them would not be per se outrageous.
In this the Canadian-bound draft dodgers dropped the ball. The proper way to have resisted the draft was to march (pun intended) into their local police station or draft office, proclaim loudly and proudly "I refuse," and peacefully proceed to jail.
However, draft evasion is another matter altogether. The civil rights protestors of the 1960s didn't flee to Canada. They stayed. They fought. They went to jail, often by way of water hoses and attack dogs. That was the proper, patriotic way to resist. They defended the moral high ground (far more precious soil that any swamp or jungle in Vietnam).
Those who fled to Canada, however, surrendered the moral high ground. They renounced this country and the principles it stands for. They are not heroes; they are definitely not patriots.
And they most definitely do not deserve a monument.
(I might cut a little slack to those who fled to Canada and stayed there. At least they had the intellectual honesty to acknowledge that they had forfeited the right, morally if not legally, to continued American citizenship.)
How unfortunate it is that "draft dodging" will long be a tarnished, tainted term due to the cowardly act of some petty brats. Such a noble struggle deserves a better legacy.
UPDATE #1: The monument plan has been abandoned.
UPDATE #2: More draft-dodging debate at Dispatches.
Meanwhile, I have the following draft-related posts:
Draft-Dodging
Trust Your Instincts...Not His
How to Read the Constitution
Edwards: No Draft (Someone Please Tell the Democrats)
(Cross-linked at Outside the Beltway.)
After burning their draft cards during the Vietnam War, tens of thousands of Americans avoided jail by fleeing to Canada.
Many settled in the small town of Nelson, British Columbia, just across the Washington state border. Now, 30 years later, the mayor of Nelson and some other Canadians are planning to honor the draft dodgers with a two-day festival and a larger-than-life monument depicting a Canadian helping two scared American men.
Though the festival and statue unveiling are still two years away, the war of words is just beginning.
Veterans of Foreign Wars leaders are outraged by the monument, as are others in the United States who see the plan as a slap in the face. Some have written to Nelson officials to say they'll never visit the town again.
The Canadian government did nothing to discourage Americans from heading north of the border so many years ago. In fact, then Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau rolled out the red carpet, saying the draft dodgers had his complete sympathy.
There are two separate and distinct issues here, and I'm not sure there's an adequate nomenclature to capture them. Perhaps the terms "draft defiance" and "draft evasion" will suffice.
The distinction is absolutely critical. Draft defiance ("Hell no, I won't go!") is indeed an act of the highest heroism that rivals if not exceeds the civil disobedience campaigns during the civil rights era, because the libertarian principle being defended is greater (i.e., "involuntary servitude" versus state-sanctioned discrimination, which, although undeniably evil, is certainly less evil that confiscating someone's life). Those who were brave enough to defend their natural and constitutional right not to be conscripted had the makings of true patriots, and a monument to them would not be per se outrageous.
In this the Canadian-bound draft dodgers dropped the ball. The proper way to have resisted the draft was to march (pun intended) into their local police station or draft office, proclaim loudly and proudly "I refuse," and peacefully proceed to jail.
However, draft evasion is another matter altogether. The civil rights protestors of the 1960s didn't flee to Canada. They stayed. They fought. They went to jail, often by way of water hoses and attack dogs. That was the proper, patriotic way to resist. They defended the moral high ground (far more precious soil that any swamp or jungle in Vietnam).
Those who fled to Canada, however, surrendered the moral high ground. They renounced this country and the principles it stands for. They are not heroes; they are definitely not patriots.
And they most definitely do not deserve a monument.
(I might cut a little slack to those who fled to Canada and stayed there. At least they had the intellectual honesty to acknowledge that they had forfeited the right, morally if not legally, to continued American citizenship.)
How unfortunate it is that "draft dodging" will long be a tarnished, tainted term due to the cowardly act of some petty brats. Such a noble struggle deserves a better legacy.
UPDATE #1: The monument plan has been abandoned.
UPDATE #2: More draft-dodging debate at Dispatches.
Meanwhile, I have the following draft-related posts:
Draft-Dodging
Trust Your Instincts...Not His
How to Read the Constitution
Edwards: No Draft (Someone Please Tell the Democrats)
(Cross-linked at Outside the Beltway.)
Posted by KipEsquire on
21 September 2004
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