I was happy to read Alex Racheotes ’09 quoted in Bob Herbert’s column in Monday’s New York Times saying, “I definitely don’t know anyone who would want to fight in Iraq. But beyond that, I get the feeling that most people at school don’t even think about the war. They’re more concerned with what grade they got on yesterday’s test.”
The fact is that most of you don’t have to confront military enlistment, as our nation has shifted from the mandatory draft of the Vietnam era to today’s poverty draft, which presents the armed forces as the greatest opportunity available to many of our nation’s youth. The fact is that Middletown High School students are much more likely to ponder military service as a viable alternative or honorable career choice. And while the military is pouring billions of dollars into marketing itself to vulnerable youth, there are some powerful things you can do—as residents of Middletown—to counter the effects of this exploitation.
First, arm yourselves with the truth, as military recruiters often lie, distort, and manipulate in order to reach enlistment quotas. Second, you can join the growing “counter-recruitment” movement, and organize on campus and throughout Middletown to use your “equal access” rights to reach MHS students as often as the recruiters do.
Visit http://afsc.org/ct/OptOut.htm for more information. Get involved in Middletown. You do live there, after all!
Seems like there is some anti-war dialogue (and action) happening at Wesleyan, at least from what I can tell from reading the Argus online. Keep it up, you’re making me proud!
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