Charles Moskos Quotations

Only when the privileged classes perform military service, only when elite youth are on the firing line, does the country define the cause as worth young peoples' blood and do war losses become acceptable, ... the answer to what constitutes vital national interests is found not so much on the cause, itself, but in who is willing to die for that cause.

For probably the first time in American history, civilians are asked to make no sacrifices in a time of war. We don't have a draft. There is no gas rationing the way there was in World War II. There is no increase in taxes; we get tax cuts instead. These acts are small ways of showing some recognition, because we're not doing it any other way.

On the whole, the country has not been concerned about female casualties.

The future looks even grimmer. Recruiting is going to get harder and harder,

now that we pay soldiers to die for us, that Americans don't want to be reminded of sacrifice?

They are simply an insignificant part of the equation. The numbers are really low.

I'd like see an ad with somebody listening to Mozart and reading Milton or Shakespeare.

They're going to try to use any means to go out and recruit.

It shows you how the recruiting difficulties are getting worse. They're dropping the standards. It increases the likelihood of problems in the unit, discipline problems.

You need to be uniform. It's a question of where you draw the line.