Don Boudreaux again eviscerates one of the justifications for the draft:

No doubt such an experience is true for many draftees. But surely the same sort of maturation process describes the typical person aging from 18 to 20 or 21.
If I were to accept the canons of (il)logic and argumentation adopted by these supporters of conscription, I would argue, with all my facts dead-on accurate: “Before I entered college at the age of 18, I was an aimless, apathetic, beer-guzzling ignoramus interested only in football and women. Within a couple of years I was focused, much more sober, bookish, and on my way toward a productive and fulfilling professional career. The same is true for many of my friends. Therefore, let’s conscript young people into college.”

I agree with him entirely except for one small point. The absurdity of the US drinking laws now means that you have to wait until your senior year before one can become a beer-guzzling ignoramus. Perhaps that has something to do with the increasing popularity of graduate school?