Youth Radio's Paul Katzman on the Draft

This morning's Weekend Edition Saturday included a feature from Atlanta's Youth Radio by Paul Katzman, senior at Atlanta's Grady High School I don't know if this was broadcast nationally or was a local fill spot from WABE, Atlanta's NPR affiliate.

This young man observes that today's young people seem complacent to stories in the news that would have sparked outrage from the same age group a few years ago.

What has happened to student activism? Thirty years ago if it came out that the president condoned the treatment of some detainees that some considered torture, the youth of the day would not have sat idly by and accepted it.
Students used to riot over such injustices.
But today public outcries on political matters have been relegated to the arena of publishing punditry, forwarded emails and the blogosphere. What will it take for the youth of America to care about our immoral war? There's on e simple answer: a military draft.

He goes on the describe how unless and until more people see the results of war in a personal way, the loss of family members and others they know, nothing much will happen to bring about a change.

This young man is able to see a truth that too many people we call leaders either cannot see or don't want to admit.
Listen to his words and pay attention to what he says. Remember that he is still in high school and is referring to his own peer group.

I don't think he has been brainwashed or put up to this by anyone. He strikes me as a serious and patriotic youngster speaking his mind. And I agree with him. I was a draftee in 1965 and the experience changed my life. I have written about my experiences at some tiresome length on this blog as regular readers know.

I don't know how I can promote Paul Katzman's ideas and opinions as a budding journalist but if one man's blogpost will help, then here it is.

Meantime, I have been watching and waiting for the return of a military draft for some time. Sooner or later it will return.