Wendell Anderson
4.14.2023
Professor Kaczmarick
English 1320
Peer Review Paper
Jaxson’s paper was a solid read. It was based on the idea that we should at this point be
questioning the validity of both the draft and the selective service. He argues that if the selective
service isn’t actually useful to the US for military purposes, why do we still force males at 18 to
still enlist? I liked him framing it as a utility discussion, rather than a moral one. If we sit and
think about it, drafting is a very gross thing to force young men, the idea of making kids straight
out of high school forcibly enlist makes my veteran skin crawl. But by discussing the topic from
the direction of usefulness, he can talk about how we practically cannot draft now. The
government has ruined that possibility with their fumbling in Vietnam and Korea. Ruined the
trust people had in that institution. I also really liked him bringing out the data for the after effects
of drafting those kids had on their psyche. Large swathes of them were devastated from what
they saw over there, and they didn’t sign up for that. They were traumatized by force, and for
what?
Now what I didn't like about his essay was the flow. It felt like he didn’t really make the
connection between drafting in its current state, the selective service, and the potential counters
for things like student loans, banking, and housing all requiring you to verify that you registered
for selective service. They use that as a dummy check to verify that you are a person in this
country similar to social or ID’s, that would have to be replaced in my mind.