Editing Draft evasion (section)

==Larger issues==
{{Quote box|width=25em|align=right|quote="[T]he aggregation of thousands upon thousands of ... 'petty' acts of resistance [can] have dramatic economic and political effects. ... Poaching and squatting on a large scale can restructure the control of property. Peasant tax evasion on a large scale has brought about crises of appropriation that threaten the state. Massive desertion by serf or peasant conscripts has helped bring down more than one ancient regime. Under the appropriate conditions, the accumulation of petty acts can, rather like snowflakes on a steep mountainside, set off an avalanche".|source=— Political scientist [[James C. Scott]], 1990.<ref name=Scott />}}

The phenomenon of draft evasion has raised several major issues among scholars and others.

===Effectiveness===
One issue is the effectiveness of the various kinds of draft evasion practices with regard to ending a military draft or stopping a war. Historian Michael S. Foley sees many draft evasion practices as merely personally beneficial.<ref name=Foley /> In his view, only public anti-draft activity, consciously and collectively engaged in, is relevant to stopping a draft or a war.<ref name=Foley /> By contrast, sociologist [[Todd Gitlin]] is more generous in his assessment of the effectiveness of the entire gamut of draft evasion practices.<ref name=Gitlin /> Political scientist [[James C. Scott]], although speaking more theoretically, makes a similar point, arguing that the accumulation of thousands upon thousands of "petty" and obscure acts of private resistance can trigger political change.<ref name=Scott>Scott, James C. (1990). ''Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts''. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, p.&nbsp;192. {{ISBN|978-0-300-05669-3}}.</ref>

===Social class===
[[File:James-Fallows-(edit).jpg|thumb|235x235px|Harvard graduate [[James Fallows]] wrote about the shame he felt as a draft evader.]]
Another issue is how best to understand young people's responses to a military call-up. According to historian Charles DeBenedetti, some Vietnam War opponents chose to evaluate people's responses to the war largely in terms of their willingness to take personal responsibility to resist evil, a standard prompted by the [[Nuremberg principles|Nuremberg doctrine]].<ref>DeBenedetti, Charles (1990). ''An American Ordeal: The Antiwar Movement of the Vietnam Era''. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, pp.&nbsp;127–128. {{ISBN|978-0-8156-0245-3}}.</ref> The ''Manual for Draft-Age Immigrants to Canada'' urged its readers to make their draft decision with Nuremberg in mind.<ref>Satin (2117, orig. 1968), cited above, p.&nbsp;7.</ref> By contrast, prominent journalist [[James Fallows]] is convinced that [[social class]] (rather than conscience or political conviction) was the dominant factor in determining who would fight in the war and who would evade their obligation to do so.<ref name=Fallows /> Fallows writes of the shame he felt – and continued to feel – after he realized that his successful attempt at draft evasion (he brought his body weight below the minimum, and lied about his mental health), an attempt he prepared for with the help of sophisticated draft counselors and classmates at Harvard, meant that working-class kids from Boston would be going to Vietnam in his stead.<ref name=Fallows /> He referred to this outcome as a matter of [[class discrimination]] and passionately argued against it.<ref>Fallows (1977), cited above, pp.&nbsp;162, 164, 166.</ref> Fallows indicated that he might have felt differently about his behavior had he chosen public draft resistance, jail, or exile.<ref>Fallows (1977), cited above, pp.&nbsp;159, 162.</ref>

Historian [[Stanley Karnow]] has noted that, during the Vietnam War, student deferments themselves helped preserve class privilege: "[President Lyndon] Johnson generously deferred U.S. college students from the draft to avoid alienating the American middle class".<ref name=Karnow>[[Stanley Karnow|Karnow, Stanley]] (1997, orig. 1983). ''Vietnam: A History''. New York: Penguin Books, 2nd ed., p.&nbsp;358. {{ISBN|978-0-14-026547-7}}.</ref>

===Democracy===
Historian [[Howard Zinn]] and political activist [[Tom Hayden]] saw at least some kinds of draft evasion as a positive expression of democracy.<ref>[[Howard Zinn|Zinn, Howard]] (2005, orig. 1980). ''A People's History of the United States''. New York: Harper Perennial "classics" ed., pp.&nbsp;485–486, 605. {{ISBN|978-0-06-083865-2}}.</ref><ref>[[James Miller (academic)|Miller, James]] (1994, orig. 1987). ''Democracy Is in the Streets: From Port Huron to the Siege of Chicago''. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, p.&nbsp;261 (on Hayden).  {{ISBN|978-0-674-19725-1}}.</ref> By contrast, historian and classical studies scholar Mathew R. Christ says that, in ancient democratic Athens, where draft evasion was ongoing,<ref name=Christ /> many of the popular tragic playwrights were deeply concerned about the corrosive effects of draft evasion on democracy and community.<ref name=Matthew>Christ (2006), cited above, pp.&nbsp;65–87 ("Conscription and Draft Evasion through a Tragic Lens" section).</ref> According to Christ, while many of these playwrights were sensitive to the moral dilemmas of war and the imperfections of Athenian democracy,<ref name=Matthew /> most touted "the ethical imperative that a man should support his friends and community. In serving the community, the individual does ... what is right and honorable".<ref>Christ (2006), cited above, p.&nbsp;86.</ref>