I don't think that there would be any shortage if push came to shove. Awful lot of poorly educated aimless young people out there. Low IQ cannon fodder. We damn sure ain't got jobs to support everyone any more .
I do not view recent generations as being more politically aware than the generations before them, although I have little doubt that they consider themselves to be.
Not hateful Beth. Just the truth. About 84% of American kids graduate high school, only 72% on schedule. Manufacturers are demanding an Associates just to stand on a line and punch out widgets, Then add on the criminal and the substance addicted. That is an awful lot of people facing in most cases insurmountable challenges.The illegals are taking many of the low no skill jobs. If war comes and the draft is reinstated there is nothing that leads me to believe that the privileged won't once again be afforded a litany of deferment choices while the bottom 20 % will bleed and die in a foreign land,as is customary in our wars!
Aside from the fact that if a major war did break out that it will NOT be a boots on the ground war, I’m pretty sure there will be a lot of talent waiting to fill the slots necessary to get the job done. Even when the draft was so large during the Kennedy and Johnson years, those who were drafted still had to take a GT test (Army general tech) so they could be placed in a position where they would be the most effective. Now, take into account that today’s American military is completely volunteer and depends upon people who are more educated than at any other time in history and there’s practically a waiting line trying to get in, why would the military’s standards be reduced in a time of war? I understand the premise of your argument @Peter Renfro, but it lacks the knowledge of how the military has and does operate. The biggest reason we have been so successful in the field isn’t that we have the numbers but what happens within the numbers we have. For one, if say a 2nd lieutenant is taken out of service during a combat situation, the sergeant behind him has the wherewithal to take charge and if he is wounded or killed, the man behind him takes charge and so forth. Enter, Audie Murphy and the likes. Our military has never been about how high a person’s IQ is but how well a person performs with the intelligence he or she has. Now, the question isn’t about if we’ll have enough military, but how many people are willing to back the military up during a time of war? I further enter the example of Vietnam.... Very, Very few!
"Low IQ cannon fodder" isn't hateful? Maybe in your world. And when would criminals and drug-addicted individuals be drafted?