Man Responds To Political Murmurs Of Requiring Women To Sign Up For The Military Draft — 'You Protect Women And Children'
The U.S. government will probably try expanding it again.
vgajic, DAPA, Elnur, DekiArt, Wichai_T | Canva Time and time again the United States government has discussed the possibility of expanding the current Selective Service System to include women. This means that, upon turning 18, women would be required to register for the draft.
There hasn’t been a military draft in the US since the early 1970s for the Vietnam War, so the Selective Service is often seen as a formality, but that hasn’t stopped people from passionately speaking out against including women in the draft. One man named John Robinson recently went viral for his impassioned speech about how the government will not be drafting “our” daughter.
John Robinson believes that ‘you protect women and children’ and shouldn’t send them to war.
Robinson delivered an emotionally charged speech for two-and-a-half minutes that has now reached over six million people. In it, he says “Let me get this right. You wanna pass a law to draft my daughter to send to another one of your foreign [expletive] wars for something you created so your arms manufacturers can make more money for your banker friends?”
In this speech, he indirectly refers to recent attempts to expand the Selective Service to women — with House Resolution 4350 and Senate Bill 4543, both of which failed to pass for the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in 2022 and 2023. However, there should be no surprise if it were to be reintroduced for the NDAA in 2024.
That’s exactly what seems to be Robinson’s problem — women shouldn’t be drafted into the war.
“My daughter will not be joining the military in any way, shape or form. Unless it's to fight this [expletive] war that this government has started against its people,” he explains. “The very fact that you don't understand the societal [expletive] rules about women and children.”
He goes on a long rant about how military recruiters practically lie about how good joining the military could be and how much it could improve your life because “the VA will take care of you” when that’s far from the truth. Not only that, but Robinson complains about how the government repeatedly wrecks the economy with our tax dollars that are going to more funding for the US military-industrial complex. He believes that this is why every branch of the military is struggling to meet its recruitment goals.
“You protect women and children because it's a societal norm. It has nothing to do with being sexist or unequal in any way," he said. "The fact is, you should always protect people that are weak of themselves.”
Josh Robinson’s view represents a shift in attitude towards the US military, despite being a little dated.
Although his heart is in the right place, Robinson’s view is a little dated and does come from a sexist origin. The idea of saving or protecting women and children first comes from a machismo belief that women and children can’t protect themselves and should be cared for by big and strong men.
Of course, we know today that there are many women in the military and the numbers are slowly rising. This is all voluntary, and the fight for equality in the military is one that is constantly raging on — with the recent target being trans people.
But Robinson is on track to have the right idea — military conscription should be done away with on all fronts. Robinson understands and even claims that we have a “corrupt government,” and seems to be anti-war, so neither men nor women should be drafted — there should be no draft.
Many people in the comments also let him know this, and he amended his words in a separate video to include that “not only are you not taking our daughters for another one of your [contrived wars], you’re not taking our sons anymore.”
A majority of Americans are opposed to a military draft.
This comes amid reports that recruiters are struggling to reach their recruitment goals, according to a Rasmussen report from July 2022. 23% of American Adults think the United States should have a military draft, compared to 30% three years prior.
Americans' views are shifting, and as the global political state of the world continues to shift and tension continues to rise, it feels as though people are getting tired of war. Previous YouGov polls surrounding the Ukraine-Russia conflict reveal that Americans don’t actually want to get involved with Russia. A Pew Research Center survey revealed in 2019 that a majority of Americans don't think the Iraq war was worth fighting, compared to 2002 when a majority approved it.
It’s too soon to tell how Americans feel about the rising tensions in the Israel-Palestine conflict, but it would be a surprise any change in this sentiment.
Isaac Serna-Diez is an Assistant Editor for YourTango who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics.