Hmmmm. Interesting. The Anti-Iwo Jima Memorial.
Can O' Worms, thy name is Nelson
The city of Nelson, in British Columbia just over the border from Washington State, USA, has announced the creation of a festival and the commissioning of a monument to honor those who fled the United States to avoid prosecution for refusing to enter the Draft.
The Monument itself is to portray a Canadian helping two scared American men.
Subsequently, everyone is going apeshit over it. The VFW, American Legion etc. are letting out a unified Harrumph.
Clime's take on the matter
There were basically two categories of people who refused the Draft: "I don't wanna go." and "I don't wanna go, because:". You were either a coward or had conviction. I just can't feature the type who didn't want to enter the draft because it would mess up their plans for life, or was just too plain dangerous for them. The "I don't wanna go, because:" crowd are a different animal, although they made up a very small fraction of those who shirked and fled.
Why did they not accept the consequences of their refusal to enter the draft if they had genuine conviction against it? Unjust war, my god doesn't want me to take arms against another man, my political beliefs prevent me from participating(here's my note from mom)...maybe these are valid reasons, in fact, I'm sure they are, but law is law, and if you are going to fight it without open physical rebellion, isn't facing the legal consequences part of the process?
Martin Luther King had a valid beef with the U.S. Government. He fought it. Guess what? He went to jail on more than one occasion. Wow, his legacy was that his efforts triumphed.
Gee, that kinda nixes the validity of the "not fight for this government at any cost, even if it means having to leave this country" angle of protest. Guess that moves all those folks to the "Coward" category...
The city of Nelson, in British Columbia just over the border from Washington State, USA, has announced the creation of a festival and the commissioning of a monument to honor those who fled the United States to avoid prosecution for refusing to enter the Draft.
The Monument itself is to portray a Canadian helping two scared American men.
Subsequently, everyone is going apeshit over it. The VFW, American Legion etc. are letting out a unified Harrumph.
Clime's take on the matter
There were basically two categories of people who refused the Draft: "I don't wanna go." and "I don't wanna go, because:". You were either a coward or had conviction. I just can't feature the type who didn't want to enter the draft because it would mess up their plans for life, or was just too plain dangerous for them. The "I don't wanna go, because:" crowd are a different animal, although they made up a very small fraction of those who shirked and fled.
Why did they not accept the consequences of their refusal to enter the draft if they had genuine conviction against it? Unjust war, my god doesn't want me to take arms against another man, my political beliefs prevent me from participating(here's my note from mom)...maybe these are valid reasons, in fact, I'm sure they are, but law is law, and if you are going to fight it without open physical rebellion, isn't facing the legal consequences part of the process?
Martin Luther King had a valid beef with the U.S. Government. He fought it. Guess what? He went to jail on more than one occasion. Wow, his legacy was that his efforts triumphed.
Gee, that kinda nixes the validity of the "not fight for this government at any cost, even if it means having to leave this country" angle of protest. Guess that moves all those folks to the "Coward" category...
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