• ChihuahuaOfDoom
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    1466 months ago

    I might catch hate for this but I never understood why it wasn’t automatic the entire time since it’s illegal to not register.

      • @disguy_ovahea
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        116 months ago

        Not any more at least. Prior to this bill, failing to register for Selective Services was a felony punishable by imprisonment for up to five years and/or a fine of not more than $250,000.

        Now you’re automatically enrolled. I think it’s actually better this way.

        • @[email protected]
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          46 months ago

          Eh, military service now is 8 years right? I’d take jail and file bankruptcy. At least you’ll be alive instead of cannon fodder, and it’s 3 years less.

          • @disguy_ovahea
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            86 months ago

            We were always forced to register. The fine and imprisonment were penalties for avoiding registration. You’d be registered at the hearing as well as facing consequences.

          • @FutileRecipe
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            16 months ago

            At least you’ll be alive instead of cannon fodder

            I don’t think the military is dying at a noticeable rate, especially as “cannon fodder.” A quick Google says deaths by hostile action hasn’t broken the triple digits annually over the last decade. I also didn’t really look at the other deaths, so feel free to dive into that side.

            https://dcas.dmdc.osd.mil/dcas/app/summaryData/deaths/byYearManner

            • @[email protected]
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              16 months ago

              This is about the draft. We haven’t drafted in forever either, but you can bet if they draft it’s because cannon fodder is needed.

              • @FutileRecipe
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                16 months ago

                if they draft it’s because cannon fodder is needed.

                That’s a big if, as you noted US hasn’t drafted in forever. But even if they did draft, the US hasn’t used “cannon fodder” tactics for several decades. Their technology is so advanced (and military budget/spending so high) they don’t need to in order to win. Trench warfare ain’t really a thing anymore.

    • @[email protected]
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      276 months ago

      Because there has not been a draft since the 70s, where automatic registration was not feasible.

      • @disguy_ovahea
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        136 months ago

        Yes, but failure to register was a felony.

          • @thrawn
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            26 months ago

            Pretty sure that doesn’t get you out of the registration, only actually serving. I think Trump was registered and said the bone spur thing later

    • @phoneymouse
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      146 months ago

      Yeah — seems like they just want to test people

    • TAG
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      126 months ago

      It was not automatic so rich people can avoid it. I have never heard of someone facing criminal charges for failing to register. I have heard that failing to register can impact eligibility for college financial aid and scholarships.

      • @afraid_of_zombies
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        16 months ago

        I have heard that failing to register can impact eligibility for college financial aid and scholarships.

        And this is why I hate the fucking neoliberals so much. As bad as the conservatives are they don’t expect me to agree with them, they just want my money. Neoliberalism demands that you not only pay a shit ton of money for student loan debt that you also internalize that you deserve to because you were privileged. They have developed economic original sin

    • @shalafi
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      English
      46 months ago

      It should be automatic, and it is now. Why did I have to worry about it 40-years ago? Now? Now worries, done deal. Nothing has changed.

      Of course lemmy thinks that serving means you’re on the front lines as a grunt with an M4.

      • @[email protected]
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        -56 months ago

        Might as well be. Giving a gun to a murderer is as bad as pulling the trigger, and that’s what supply officers do. Mechanics fix killing machines. Cooks feed killers while they’re off killing. The military is a machine, and every cog in that machine is a murderer.