Note: Digital Read. Also, this is a book of small size, so you will have to zoom in.

URL: http://www.mediafire.com/?9s538sloilogvl8

Introduction:

New York is, for countless millions, a beacon. As much it has a history as a destination point and a place to make a better life, it also has a history of protest, at different times and for different reasons, when needed. 

During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln issued the Enrollment Act of Conscription, or military draft. Lincoln’s call for 300,000 young men to fight a seemingly endless war frightened even those who supported the Union cause. Not everyone was nervous, however- one of the exemptions to the Act was a “commutation fee.” For $300, an outrageous sum in 1863, the wealthier citizens of New York could buy their way out. 

On July 12th, 1863, the names of the first draftees were published in city newspapers. Within hours, throngs of outraged New Yorkers had formed a roving mob, destroying homes of the rich, looting stores, and sadly, fighting amongst themselves. For three days 50,000 people terrorized New York, sick of the war, enraged at being forced to fight because they couldn’t afford not to.

Few New Yorkers would welcome a three-day riot, even if the draft were reinstated for the war in Iraq. But the parallels are there from 1863-the fat that then, as now, money is a key factor in enlistment, and many who join do so for economic reasons, even when those benefits are not guaranteed.

On May 2, 2003, aboard a nuclear-powered aircraft called the USS Abraham Lincoln, George W. Bush proclaimed “Mission Accomplished.” He wore a flight suit, despite the fact that he had used his wealth and position in society to advance to the top of the list for the Texas Air National Guard, a position that shielded him form combat in Vietnam.

ALmost three years later, we know the war isn’t over. We know the same economic advantages are being used to free certain people from the specter of enlistment, and we know who profits from this war and who loses. What else do you know, and what are we going to do with that knowledge?

What you hold in your hands is as much a love letter as a warning, filled with equal parts hope and outrage, a product of wishful thinking, grim acknowledgment and thoughts of the past as well as the future.