> A draft would also force Americans of all backgrounds to interact with each other in an environment that builds cohesion.

Every American presidential election has a side show about the candidates military record and a meaningful number appear to have dodged their service - current president included.

This only works if there isn't an out for folk with bone spurs.

How widespread were those sort of shenanigans back when the draft was on, do you know?

Wasn’t the last president who has served bush senior? This would mean it‘s rather common in some circles.

Barack Obama wasn’t old enough to serve in Vietnam, so he wouldn’t have needed to dodge serving. In about 20 years, provided the draft doesn’t get reinstated, we’re likely to have more presidents who never served.

Seriously what is with people thinking the draft will somehow be a great unifer or that it is an appropriate propagator of values? Veterans were lynched for wearing their uniform. The Kennedys lost family in wars and yet JFK started the Vietnam war.

I think we should just accept that the hypocritical institution is dead after Vietnam and stop trying to use it for power fantasies over society or advocacy - its only function is to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory as it makes reasonable ideas grossly unreasonable.

Or we could, you know, just go to school and work and interact with one another the way we already do. Rather than trying to force people to give up years of their short lives via a draft.

Which school? Do you think the inner city kid goes to school with the Palo Alto kid? The Appalachian kid? The son of illegal alliens? We live in bubbles and we wonder why we can't make sense of each others realities.

A draft cannot be made practical and fair unless you are going to have an Army of 1945 proportions. Otherwise, you might need one in ten draft-age men, and the business of choosing which becomes even more open to manipulation.

You do not think a truly random selection process could be implemented with integrity?