How successful do you think the United States military upon the emergence of a possible newly declared world war would be able to create a new military draft amongst the civilian populance?
They were able to during the Vietnam war era quite successfully.
What would be different if it were to be implemented today?
All opinions welcomed.
Don’t really know, I have mixed feelings on conscription.
On one hand I think every able bodied citizen has a duty to defend their country on the other hand conscripts usually (not always) make poor soldiers (Alvin York being an exception).
When I enter the military I don’t really have a desire to fight alongside people who have little motivation to fight and are more suceptible to cowardess in battle.
I think that you would have many more dissenters, people trying to flee to Canada, dare I suggest even Mexico? For the most part, though, I think it would be about the same.
I don’t know if the soldiers would be as fine-tuned, however. The soldiers had less in the way of rights, then. Basically, you followed orders unquestionably, or you got the shit knocked out of you, you learned to do what they wanted, or you got the shit kicked out of you…etc.
That probably still happens to this day, maybe Contra-Nietzsche would be able to enlighten us as to that, as he would seem to have more recent military experience than anyone else here.
I can’t accept that as a given. I have no idea what a volunteer army at that time would have led to, but the fact that people were forced to go to war fueled the anti-war movement. And there was also the whole skip off to Canada reaction, along with many other methods of avoiding the draft. It set up a very antagonistic set of dynamics between the draftees (and potential draftees and their families and friends) and the military/government.
i think we’re past drafts in the US for the most part honestly
it’s easier to privately contract it… pay contractors hazard pay at 3x salary (that’s standard… way more in more urgent wars), and create the money from thin air
libya recently proved we can isolate (some) countries with limited if any manpower (boots on the ground)
and i think the US could get very creative in times of need to limit a draft
so that being said
if there were an actual draft today… if its offensive/interventionist, its already lost… and if its defensive… things are already fubared