This fall I took a history class called War, Peace and Empire. Given the opening attendance of at least fifty students, it was clear that even if Macalester students generally oppose wars, they sure like to study them. As we were going through the first day formalities, the professor asked an interesting question: If the war on Iraq went worse than thought, and a draft was started, who would go? About three guys raised their hand, including myself. Mainly because I like to make trouble, I asked a very polite question about whether or not everyone else was aware that someone else was going to die in their place if they didn't go. The responses to my query were not kind.

That story came back to me a couple of months ago when I read a New York Times opinion piece by Congressman Charles Rangel (D., NY), calling for the reinstatement of the draft. I did not agree with what he said. Why should my eminently draftable brothers or I be sent into a war that we don't agree with when others are willing to fight it anyway? Then my conscience began to remind me that just because you can get someone to do something for you, doesn't mean that you should.

During the Civil War it was a common practice for upper class citizens to spend a few hundred dollars, a considerable amount at the time, to buy their way out of the Union Army. How did we replace them and their necessary manpower? We pulled Irishmen off the ships as they came escaping famine and other horrors, offered them hot meals, and signed them up to die for us. I am not saying the objectives or ideals of the Civil War are similar to that of the Gulf War, version 2.0, but the point remains: we have a history of forcing others to sacrifice for us. Even Vietnam, a defining issue for so many of our parents, was a war where middle class kids could at least delay their entrance with college deferment.

Since the end of the draft, our troops have been in Panama, Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq, to name just a few spots. Yet for too many of us, the wars our troops have fought have had no real impact on our daily lives. These are the CNN video game wars, where we can sit back and watch as bombs are put through chimneys. Why isn't war a big deal to us anymore?

Congressman Rangel points out that in today's Congress, only 4 out of 535 members have children who would be in danger of going to war. In other words, it ain't their kids dying. Similarly, during Vietnam, our current President was manning a plane for the Texas National Guard, apparently making sure Oklahoma didn't get overly ambitious. While I find that somewhat appalling, my parents and probably yours are living with the same implicit advantage. Sure, they may not be supporting the war, they may even go to a demonstration, but they can do so with the comfort of knowing their families are safe.

I cannot even begin to imagine what my mother would do if we were headed to war and her sons had a chance of serving. (Put it this way: I would pity my Congressman.) How about all the parents in ritzy suburbs like Eden Prarie, Roseville and Minnetonka? If their little angels were headed to the desert to die they would be out on the streets, demanding the heads of their Congresspeople and President.

Every poll I have seen about the war in Iraq has shown a clearly hesitant public. Yet, despite their general apprehension and opposition, the large majority of the nation continues to sit by silently as we prepare for strikes over Baghdad. The way that war becomes real is to have it brought into your living room, as 9/11 was for so many Americans. This is what reinstating a draft with no deferment will do.

If we as a nation decide that we need to kill others in order to achieve some greater good, we should collectively share in the sacrifice of putting our lives at risk. Lets stop paying poor kids from the inner cities and rural areas to do our dirty work alone. Instead, let's act on a global stage in a way Governor George W. Bush once suggested we do, with humility. And when we do go to fight, wherever it may be, let's make sure the price is worth it and that all Americans, regardless of background, are ready to help. The generation now in power is a generation that fought in Vietnam. Would they do the same to their own children? It may sound twisted, but I think it is time to see. We can do this by making you, me and our brothers re-eligible for the draft.