A few thoughts on war. . .Thank you, Jim Harrison

I know that I said I wouldn't discuss war or politics in this blog, but something just caught my fancy. My roommate convinced me to read a Jim Harrison novel (actually, it's a false memoir, but who's splitting hairs here) and in one section he talks about the draft, which we all hope never rears its tumultuous and grizzly head ever again:

"I've always felt that the draft should begin with fifty-year-old men and descend in age. Give young men a chance to live a little, taste things, before they get their asses shot off in Asia. Also draft at least 25 per cent of Congress. Let them draw straws for front line duty. I suspect then that the vote for entering a war would be a trifle more cautious. Any fifty-year-old that can play eighteen holes of golf can certainly use his weak forefinger to pull a trigger and his chubby legs to hike through swamps" (Harrison, Wolf, p. 105).

Ha ha ha, right? What a funny, rude joke to be playing. I don't think so. It seems ridiculous to most people that the privileged should suffer a little too. Not to me. It's not ridiculous, just a little idealistic to think that the people who reap so much from these things in which we engage should have to give a little too. Just remember, kids: the term "eye for an eye" has nothing to do with vengeance. No, indeed, it is just a call for equality.