When I was 18 years of age, I registered for Selective Service (aka the draft board), because I had to. Every male citizen or legal immigrant aged 18 to 25 is required by law to do so (Selective Service Act of 1918). A lot of people don't. The percentages are different in each state which is because each states have different requirements. New Hampshire has a 100% rate, but Washington DC is as low as 51%. Some states have requirements for attending state schools. Ohio charges student out of state tuition if you are not registered. I haven't found any such rules for my home state of Vermont which apparently has a low 73% as of 2018. I couldn't find any more recent numbers.
If you are going to apply for any Federal student loans, you need to register with SSS. That is why I did it when I turned 18, you have 30 days to do so. I had a little bag packed for a drop-in on my Canadienne relatives if it did happen if my draft number ever did come up, but I did register. At the time, I thought we were going into Nicaragua. I am grateful I was wrong.
I know plenty of people who don't even realize that their 18 year old boy is required to register. I asked a co-worker, years ago, if her son was going to register. She said she didn't realize he had to. I told her if he was going to apply for student loans he needed to. She said she was paying for his college. This, by definition, is called privilege. Poor people get drafted while the rich stay state-side. This is the way of the world. College deferment allowed the rich to avoid service in Viet Nam. When college deferment ended so did the war. America cannot handle seeing white suburbanites coming home in flag draped coffins. Poor kids, black and brown kids. No problem. Wealthy white kids ... This war has to end!
Why only men? Only men are required to register mostly because we are a sexist society. War is thought of as a male thing so the men did the working and the fighting and women stayed home and took care of the kids. Now that things are different and women now participate in the workplace and combat, they should have to register for the draft as well, right? Congress says they are investigating it. We all know that no politician is really working on this. Meanwhile, some men find out when they are in their 30's or 40's that they cannot get a state or federal job because they never registered.
Tune out: The reason I now, a pacifist in my 50's, support the draft is that it will prevent tune out and ultimately make wars shorter. We were at war in Afghanistan for 20 years. To most of us Americans, this had zero affect on us. America hasn't had anyone forced into the military via the draft since 1973. It is entirely a volunteer outfit. When we think of the war, we think they signed up for this. Indeed they do, but a lot of them is because they have no other options. Very few Americans followed the war and it was hard to do if you wanted to. You really had to look for it. It isn't like it was important like Britney and her receivership.
If ratings are down, media won't cover it. It is expensive and dangerous to put a journalist on the front line. But if your cousin, neighbor's kid or child were drafted, you would probably pay attention. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were huge mistakes that went on too long, but these were small wars. I am grateful to President Biden for finally ending it, regardless of how poorly it was done. Because it is so easy to tune out, a bullshit war like this can go on for 20 years. It also helps that only 2,200+ Americans died. We've gotten good at this war thing. This is small compared to the over 58,000 Americans who died in Viet Nam. Americans were only involved in that 20 year war for eight years, but they were deadly years.
I am not naive. I realize that war is sometimes necessary. The bullshit wars make it difficult for us to get into the ones that are necessary. World War I was a bullshit war. If it wasn't for the isolationism that the US experienced after WW I, two decades later Roosevelt would have been able to get into WW II a lot easier. A lot more lives would have been saved if we had.
As usual, I fear for the future. I have concerns for the big one that is coming. Oil will not be that important in the 21st century, but water ... yes, water will. Also, within the next ten years or so, I am guessing that it is going to get hot with China. Will we resist the draft because the memory of this bullshit wars are still fresh? Now that I am a dad, (yes, I adopted a seven year old boy), the fear is more real than ever.
