View Source | November 20, 2013
In a Slate Future Tense article, Distinguished Sustainability Scientist Brad Allenby writes how today's technology is masking civilians' understanding of war. Technologies like biotechnology, nanotechnology, drones, and communications are steadily increasing the gap between civilians and military professionals and making war more "socially acceptable."
"This is a dangerous complacency in a society where class cleavage and political divisiveness is going stronger, where fewer and fewer institutions provide opportunities that cut across self-selected communities of interest and ideology, and where the divide between civilian and military cultures is already dangerous and growing wider," writes Allenby, also a Lincoln Professor of Engineering and Ethics and Founding Chair of the Consortium on Emerging Technologies, Military Operations, and National Security.
To compensate for the dangerous gap between experienced military personnel and volunteers, Allenby suggests reinstating the draft. A draft would also improve the public's understanding of battle practices, policies, and methods.