reason, we believe further speculation about its putative nature ill-advised in
this context. Since there is considerable doubt, in our minds, that any viable
political surrogate can be devised, we are reluctant to compromise, by
premature discussion, any possible option that may eventually lie open to our
government.
SOCIOLOGICAL
Of the many functions of war we have found convenient to group together in
this classification, two are critical. In a world of peace, the continuing stability
of society will require: 1) an effective substitute for military institutions that can
neutralize destabilizing social elements and 2) a credible motivational surrogate
for war that can insure social cohesiveness. The first is an essential element of
social control; the second is the basic mechanism for adapting individual human
drives to the needs of society.
Most proposals that address themselves, explicitly or otherwise, to the postwar
problem of controlling the socially alienated turn to some variant of the Peace
Corps or the so-called Job Corps for a solution. The socially disaffected, the
economically unprepared, the psychologically unconformable, the hard-core
"delinquents," the incorrigible "subversives," and the rest of the unemployable
are seen as somehow transformed by the disciplines of a service modeled on
military precedent into more or less dedicated social service workers. This
presumption also informs the otherwise hardheaded ratiocination of the
"Unarmed Forces" plan.
The problem has been addressed, in the language of popular sociology, by
Secretary McNamara. "Even in our abundant societies, we have reason enough
to worry over the tensions that coil and tighten among underprivileged young
people, and finally flail out in delinquency and crime. What are we to expect..
where mounting frustrations are likely to fester into eruptions of violence and
extremism?" In a seemingly unrelated passage, he continues: "It seems to me
that we could move toward remedying that inequity [of the Selective Service
System] by asking every young person in the United States to give two years of
service to his country--whether in one of the military services, in the Peace
Corps, or in some other volunteer developmental w? Am at home or abroad. We
could encourage other countries to do the same." Here, as elsewhere throughout
this significant speech, Mr. McNamara has focused, indirectly but
unmistakably, on one of the key issues bearing on a possible transition to peace,
and has later indicated, also indirectly, a rough approach to its resolution, again
phrased in the language of the current war system.
this context. Since there is considerable doubt, in our minds, that any viable
political surrogate can be devised, we are reluctant to compromise, by
premature discussion, any possible option that may eventually lie open to our
government.
SOCIOLOGICAL
Of the many functions of war we have found convenient to group together in
this classification, two are critical. In a world of peace, the continuing stability
of society will require: 1) an effective substitute for military institutions that can
neutralize destabilizing social elements and 2) a credible motivational surrogate
for war that can insure social cohesiveness. The first is an essential element of
social control; the second is the basic mechanism for adapting individual human
drives to the needs of society.
Most proposals that address themselves, explicitly or otherwise, to the postwar
problem of controlling the socially alienated turn to some variant of the Peace
Corps or the so-called Job Corps for a solution. The socially disaffected, the
economically unprepared, the psychologically unconformable, the hard-core
"delinquents," the incorrigible "subversives," and the rest of the unemployable
are seen as somehow transformed by the disciplines of a service modeled on
military precedent into more or less dedicated social service workers. This
presumption also informs the otherwise hardheaded ratiocination of the
"Unarmed Forces" plan.
The problem has been addressed, in the language of popular sociology, by
Secretary McNamara. "Even in our abundant societies, we have reason enough
to worry over the tensions that coil and tighten among underprivileged young
people, and finally flail out in delinquency and crime. What are we to expect..
where mounting frustrations are likely to fester into eruptions of violence and
extremism?" In a seemingly unrelated passage, he continues: "It seems to me
that we could move toward remedying that inequity [of the Selective Service
System] by asking every young person in the United States to give two years of
service to his country--whether in one of the military services, in the Peace
Corps, or in some other volunteer developmental w? Am at home or abroad. We
could encourage other countries to do the same." Here, as elsewhere throughout
this significant speech, Mr. McNamara has focused, indirectly but
unmistakably, on one of the key issues bearing on a possible transition to peace,
and has later indicated, also indirectly, a rough approach to its resolution, again
phrased in the language of the current war system.
