The draft for service in the United States military ended in 1973. Since then, the nation has relied on a volunteer force, despite fighting the longest war in U.S. history, the double Afghan/Iraq conflicts. U.S. military personnel were severely strained, leading to damaging multiple tours of duty for a tiny minority of Americans.

“By rescinding their prior acceptance of conscription, the American people effectively opted out of war . . .” Andrew J. Bacevich wrote in Foreign Affairs (“Ending Endless War,” September/October 2016). The shortcomings of this policy are, he said, “glaringly apparent.”

Less than half a percent of Americans serve combat tours, while the vast majority of Americans attend to shopping and lives as usual. They didn’t even push Congress to roll back the tax cuts of the early 2000’s, greatly reducing our ability to pay for the Afghan/Iraq conflicts.

Usually, when the nation fights a war, citizens at least share the burden by paying more taxes to support the efforts, but not in this case. Obviously, such irresponsibility greatly increases our national debt, leaving less money for everything from building roads to research into conquering new diseases like the Ebola and Zika viruses.

From now on, Bacevich said, we should use military force only as a last resort. The American people should be fully engaged in supporting it, not just a few uniformed personnel. Allies should do their part for their own security.

He recommends several steps to remedy the unequal sacrifice of those who serve. One is a requirement that American citizens pay for wars in which they send their soldiers to die. Another is a military reserve that mirrors American society in “race, gender, region, and, above all, class.”

If we all share the sacrifice of military action, we might use it more wisely.