In America, where
there is a volunteer army, the direct
relationship between an individual act and a communal
ritual is strikingly clarified by how well the
relationship is masked. Consider: although there
exists a volunteer military—not universal
conscription as in many other countries—there is the bedrock communal
ritual act of registering for the military
draft.
In America, there is a “Peace
Time Draft.” Simply,
communal commitment to the Warrior’s Quest imagination and
its
ritual of endless warring is validated by the almost
silent and invisible act of registering for the military draft.
Legally, every eighteen
year old male must register for the draft under penalty of exile or imprisonment. More,
this registration is accomplished in most states while the individual
is signing his driver’s license application.
In brief, most Americans do not know about the
somewhat invisible driver’s license/draft registration link,
nor do many believe that a military draft system is currently active.
While the Selective Service System is not operational
in terms of drafting individuals, it is absolutely active in
terms of obtaining registration cards from every eligible male.
In this way, the SSS ensures that every eighteen
year old male enacts the cultural ritual of registration
that makes present the Warrior’s Quest vision and imagination.
See Selective Service System website.
Continue—RL
