Is There a Draft in Here?

 I was a young kid in the 60's, but I well remember the anti-war protests. The Vietnam war protests were in all the papers, on TV every night and in the streets all over America. It was an unpopular war for a myriad of reasons, but the drafting of young men might have been the bigliest detraction. Vietnam wasn't a World War where our very existence was threatened by a madman in Europe and one in Japan, as well. It was an unnecessary political war; business for the Military Industrial Complex, disguised as the patriotic salvation of democracy from the evils of communism. The draft lottery to me seemed as cruel and unusual as "The Lottery" in the great Shirley Jackson short story of the same name. Your number came up; you were gone. 

You might survive the Vietnam draft lottery- your individual death wasn't the point- and you had some options to avoid being shipped out, but those options were not available to all. If your daddy was rich a doctor could write a note that you had *bone spurs* in your feet. If your daddy was poor, the government would just do what they feel. Like a state lottery these days, there was a lot of dumb luck involved. 

Of all the lessons learned from Vietnam, the knowledge that a draft made an unpopular war far more unpopular came to the forefront, and the government ended the draft in 1973 as the war was finally handed over to the people of South Vietnam. Our troops came home. The all-voluntary military was invented. This was actually a pretty good idea all around. From the government's end, you got soldiers, sailors and Marines who would make their service their choice. Men and women signed up on purpose, swore an oath to the Constitution and knew full well that they may well be called into battle. They were okay with that. It was their call. The general public pretty much signed off on that too. You could disagree with future wars, but you had to face the fact that now the combatants were fighting of their own free will. You could still protest a war, but it just didn't have the verve of 'Nam with its young lives hijacked by fate and circumstance. Poor kids and minorities still fill the ranks- but again- their call. The new Army (military) would become better educated over the years without the two-and-out of the draft. It was a job. A career if you liked. Combat in the middle east ensued. Plenty of that. Combat for those boys that wanted to kill and were certain it wouldn't happen to them. 

Here in 2026 that all-volunteer aspect may fall by the wayside. Ironically, a rich guy whose daddy had doctor's sign off on his bone spurs may sooner or later reinstate the draft. He may have to. There just might not be enough volunteer men to do all the warring he has in his warped mind. We're finding out how ridiculously expensive missiles are. We've always known how cheap life is. There will always be a need for boots on the ground with this guy, whether in Iran or Minneapolis. So, the talk is that there may be a draft again. Probably. 

This regime is not one that fears protest. It thrives on it. If people hate you, you must be doing something right! They are not out to win friends and influence people among the hoi polloi or the bourgeois. As always in history, those groups are to be exploited. It's the way history works. 

Private Bone Spurs will be 80-years-young on June 14 of this year, and his monied benefactors know they have to use him before they lose him. His birthday will be celebrated with a UFC cage fight on the White House lawn. We will probably be told that ALL presidents have wanted such a display, but only he could make it happen. He is special for some reason. 

Likely some 9/11 type event will be allowed to happen to give impetus for a draft. The actual 9/11 saw enlistments in the services skyrocket almost from the minute the planes hit. To hedge that, there will probably be a draft. Patriotism might not soar as high as it did that September day in 2001. Things will have to be done regardless, and 19-year-old boys will be needed for they have always been the most malleable to be molded into fodder for the war machine of the wealthy. History is our future; the one we never learn from.