I Chose to Serve, That’s Why I Oppose the Draft

The federal government is moving to “modernize” the Selective Service System (the draft) by shifting toward automatic registration. Not voluntary. Not intentional. Automatic.

That means millions of young Americans could be enrolled in the framework of a future draft without ever making a conscious choice.

In Texas, a version of this already exists. When a young man applies for a driver’s license, the state transmits his information to the Selective Service System. That application includes a notice stating that submitting it is treated as consent to registration. There is no separate step. No independent action required. For most people, it happens without a second thought.

Texas is not alone in this. Many states have similar systems that tie Selective Service registration to driver’s licenses or other state services.

So this isn’t about copying one state’s approach. It’s about taking a patchwork of state-level practices and moving toward a fully centralized, automatic federal system, one that further removes the process from individual awareness and action. So this isn’t some future proposal out of nowhere. It’s an expansion.

A system that already exists at the state level is now being scaled nationally, with even less connection to individual awareness or consent.

I’ve been on the other side of war. I deployed twice in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. I chose to serve. I chose to accept the risks. And because I chose it, it meant something. That experience is exactly why my views have changed. I know I may take some flak for saying this, especially as someone who has served, but experience has only strengthened my conviction.

There was a time when I saw the draft as patriotism. A shared duty. A necessary safeguard. I no longer believe that.

Individuals own their bodies, period.

As John Locke wrote, “Every man has a property in his own person. This nobody has any right to but himself.”

No government, no institution, and no majority has the right to force someone to risk their life in the service of a cause they did not choose.

That includes war.

The draft is often dressed up as civic responsibility, but in reality, it is the government compelling individuals to fight and potentially die under threat of punishment.

As Milton Friedman put it plainly, “Conscription is inconsistent with a free society.”

And Robert Nozick reminds us, “Individuals have rights, and there are things no person or group may do to them without violating their rights.”

That is not patriotism. That is coercion.

And now, instead of debating whether that power should exist, we are debating how to make it more efficient. How to make it automatic. How to remove even the minimal act of individual consent from the process. That should concern anyone who values liberty.

Some will argue that in times of existential threat, freedom must give way to survival. They will point to moments like World War II and say the draft was necessary, but that argument still leaves one question unanswered.

If a war is truly just, truly necessary, and truly supported by the people, why must participation be forced?

A free society should not need to compel its citizens to defend it. People will step forward, and if they do not, then maybe the problem is not with the people, but with the cause.

A volunteer force reflects belief. A draft reflects obligation. And those are NOT the same thing.

There is a deeper principle at stake here. If individuals do not have the right to decide what risks they take with their own lives, then what rights do they truly have?

You cannot claim to believe in individual liberty while supporting a system that allows the state to command a person’s body in times of crisis. Rights do not disappear when they become inconvenient. They matter most when they are tested.

None of this diminishes the honor of those who choose to serve. It elevates it. There is a profound difference between a man who is sent to war and a man who chooses it. One is compelled. The other is committed.

I served because I believed in it, and that is exactly why I believe no one else should ever be forced to.

If you believe individuals own their lives and their bodies, this matters.

Pay attention to what is being proposed. Question it. Talk about it, and don’t let something as consequential as forced service quietly become automatic, because once that line is crossed, it won’t be easily undone.