To force or not to force

Svenska Dagbladet today has an article on the abolishment of Swedish conscription. The Armed Forces are of course concerned that they will not be able to attract enough men and women to join the Armed Forces and that it will cost more that today. They are right to be worried, as the Armed Forces of today, with conscription, is a throughly unattractive employer, and yes, it is going to cost more to get people to WANT to join the Armed Forces as opposed to just being able to pick and choose, and then FORCE people!

To quote the forever inspirational philosopher Ayn Rand in her Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal:

"Of all the statist violations of individual rights in a mixed economy, the military draft is the worst. It is an abrogation of rights. It negates man's fundamental right--the right to life--and establishes the fundamental principle of statism: that a man's life belongs to the state, and the state may claim it by compelling him to sacrifice it in battle. If the state may force a man to risk death or hideous maiming and crippling, in a war declared at the state's discretion, for a cause he may neither approve of nor even understand, if his consent is not required to send him into unspeakable martyrdom--then, in principle, all rights are negated in that state, and its government is not man's protector any longer. What is there left to protect?"

What gives a democratic government the right to take command over their young, stripping them of their most basic right, their right to free will? And for those of you out there who think that people's life belong to the state, I would like to ask you this: "If conscription is such a good idea, then why stop at just conscripting people for the Armed Forces? Why not establish some sort of "Council of Elders" who will conduct tests on the entire people, say when they turn 18, and then tell them what they are to do with the rest of their lives! You are to become a doctor, you are to become a street sweeper, and you are to become a soldier."

For any freedom-loving individual it is obvious that the state does not have the right to commandeer the lives of young people for military service, any more than it has the right to decide which profession people should pursue! Luckily for Sweden, the state won't be able to force young people into the Armed Forces much longer. We will finally be able to say: "Good riddance!"