CMV: The US should require recruits to a year of national service before being allowed to serve in the military.

The past week has been full of news on division on pro and anti military. If you know someone on one side of that debate but not the other, you might not have heard that there’s been a ton of anti-military sentiment afforded towards the US lately, including Dax Sheppard saying we’re an empire with a particular track record of imperialism and Jordan Peterson saying they’re not the best of us. I can't currently find a link, but I think it was Dax Sheppard who said he didnt think the military was made up of the "best of us". I don’t think the military is made up of the best of us, nor should we want it to be.<br><br>I’m not saying I think the military is made up of “the worst of us.” I don’t think the military is made up of garbage humans either. I think it’s made up of the most vulnerable of us. I think the military is made up of people who were so eager to prove themselves, they were willing to die for it. I think it’s made up of people who have been convinced they were disposable. I think it’s made up of people who were afforded no other way out. I think it’s made up of people who were convinced they had no other way in. People who were convinced they were nothing without it. I think the military is made up of human beings who are so much more valuable than the leaders who are sending them to die.<br><br>If the military were actually made up of the best of us, that would mean we think war is so important that we’re willing to sacrifice our future doctors, teachers, scientists, and activists. That’s not something we should want.<br><br>I don’t want anyone to think that I believe we have to love the troops. We shouldn’t have to love the troops. We should want the troops to have a happy, healthy life. That’s what I want. I want to live in a society that wants our troops to have a happy, healthy life. I want to live in a society that doesn’t see them as disposable. I want to live in a society that doesn’t think the best use of their time and energy is to sacrifice their life for our comfort. I want to live in a society that values the lives of its citizens enough not to send them to their deaths, but I don’t live in that society. The solution to this isn’t to abolish the military or to try to make them look bad, its to help them look good, in the way that really matters. We need to prove we value their lives.<br><br>I believe that would happen if we required a year of national service before entering the military. That means anyone who joins the military has to spend a year with the Red Cross, in a hospital, in a school, in a disaster zone; wherever help is needed. I think with that kind of service, we would all see the troops in a more positive light. I think we would all be able to recognize the inherent value of someone who is willing to help and serve.<br><br>If we did that, the troops would be the best of us. They would be the selfless and brave. We would trust them with our children. We would trust them with our lives. We would value them more than we currently do. If the troops were made up of people we universally think are the best of us, then we would be a society that values their lives. We wouldn’t send them to die.<br><br>I can’t imagine this change wouldn’t help improve society, but I could be wrong.<br><br>**EDIT**: I am not trying to equate being in the military with being in a frat house. I am trying to say that the military is made up of people who we should want to thrive, who we should want to succeed, and who we should want to live happy lives.