host

The government has already triggered an "enough is enough" response in me,
once, a long time ago. My reaction to the politicians' policies regarding the Viet Nam war <br>was the decision not to co-operate with the Selective Service/Military Draft in any way.<br> Instead, I lived "underground" for seven years, avoiding jobs where the potential for background<br> checks seemed likely, and situations with increased risk of investigation or arrest. <br>It may not seem like much, but it was the correct decision for me at the time, and, <br>if enough other young men did the same thing back then, maybe the lack of a continuous <br>supply of new draft inductees to fill the empty combat boots formerly occupied by our 58,000 dead <br>and 250,000+ wounded, would have ended that brutal, wasting, and pointless war much sooner.<br>

If your opinion is that I should have boldly and loudly proclaimed
my resistance, perhaps you are right. I watched Joan Baez's husband, David,
hustled off to prison for a "crime" similar to mine, and I watched others flee
to Canada. My view was and is that my government was guilty of criminal
behavior, compelling it's young sons to fight and die in defense of a far
away foreign government, in a conflict predicated on a lie (Gulf of Tonkin).
Submitting myself to a corrupt authority to face what it regarded as justice
for my "disobedience", was not an acceptable choice, nor was leaving the
country.

It always comes down to each citizen's choice of whether to go along with
government policy and regulation, or not. Think for yourself,
remain always sceptical of authority, stay informed, work for change
when you disagree, refuse to co-operate when your leaders try to compell
you to participate in immoral and unjust activities. Follow your conscience
and remember that without "good Germans, just following orders", Hitler never
could have wrought the massive destruction that he and just a small number of his <br>lieutenants have been consigned most of the blame for, by history.