Sat, Apr 13, 2002 page8

• Professional military the way to go

  • By Chang Yung-chien 張永健
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  DPP and TSU lawmakers have separately proposed amendments to the Military Service Law (兵役法) that would introduce a fully professional, volunteer military, ending conscription. I agree with that aim, and would like to take this opportunity to discuss the merits of a fully professional military.

  Opponents of the volunteer system argue that few men would want to volunteer. Naturally, if monthly salaries remain only a little over NT$10,000, interest in the military isn't going to be very high. Operating high-tech weaponry requires professionalism and there are risks inherent in taking up arms to protect society. It is natural that professionalism and risk should be reflected in one's salary.

  In Taiwan's fire and police departments, people put their lives on the line more often than soldiers are required to, yet many people still choose these professions. Reasonable salaries will succeed in attracting ambitious young people.

  A conscription-based system also incurs hidden social costs. Many people who don't want to serve in the military deliberately cut off their fingers, damage their eyesight, ruin their health or feign insanity during physicals so that they are exempted from service. Others spend large amounts of money trying to find a way out. When people trying to avoid service ruin their health, who benefits? This is a waste of resources.

  In addition, when they start their military service, men often have to break up with girlfriends and perhaps delay plans to study abroad. These factors don't ap-pear on any balance sheet, but they are costs that leave an indelible mark on everybody involved.

  In addition, the criteria for exemption have frequently been condemned for the ease with which they are abused by the rich and influential. Even President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), who grew up in poverty, has been criticized for his exemption from military service (because of his slightly abnormal arm). The overwhelming view that privilege buys exemptions and the prevailing sense of injustice do not serve the national interest. A volunteer system would eliminate both of these drawbacks.

  Some also think that a volunteer system would raise defense spending and place a strain on the nation's finances. To take such a view is to miss the wood for the trees.

  If they didn't have to do military service, the vast majority of men could, after joining the labor market, command higher salaries than they would in the military. They would use their skills to

  generate value commensurate with their salaries in the marketplace. Their income would be taxable. Even if the income generated by their tax payments were insufficient to cover the costs of a volunteer system, it should still be kept in mind that human re-sources would not be used as inefficiently as they are in a conscription system.

  In abstract terms, the volunteer system would still raise the overall prosperity of society.

  In concrete terms, it could even reduce expenditure on other national budgetary items. For example, those who directly entered the job market would gain a better understanding of the mar-ket's workings. Salaries would tend to be higher, so certain welfare expenditures would be reduced. Unemployment might also be reduced.

  In addition, modern warfare involves high-tech weaponry in battles thousands of kilometers away, as opposed to hand-to-hand combat. The military admits that, under the current system, soldiers don't really become familiar with the use of weapons until they are about to complete their term of service. This implies that none of the soldiers handling modern weapons really know what they're doing.

  Thus, if you compare 10 soldiers making NT$10,000 each but who are not really sure what they're doing, to one experienced professional earning NT$100,000 a month, which of these increases defense costs and enhances the nation's defense?

  Many have also said that military service is cushy. It's cushy because there's nothing to do. Year after year, outstanding youths who would have otherwise showcased their talents in the job market are shut away in military barracks to do nothing. There is no value in paying people low salaries to do nothing.

  True patriots would surely all hope that Taiwan would have a solid national defense capability, a prosperous economy and maximum levels of freedom. The government's aim should be to try to achieve the greatest number of objectives at the lowest cost.

  Even if we put aside for a moment the conscription system's drain on the economy and its constraints on personal freedom, and simply ask which system will increase defense capability, the answer seems likely to be the volunteer system. When we throw the other considerations into the mix as well, the conscription system shows itself to be nothing but a liability.

  The costs of conscription over the decades in Taiwan are incalculable. It is to be hoped that legislators will now opt for a volunteer system and build a better future for Taiwan.

  Chang Yung-chien is a lawyer.

  Translated by Scudder Smith
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