It was a double-edged sword. Conscription was deeply radicalizing, both in terms of domestic discontent and labor militarization.
Once Nixon ended the draft and converted operations to air war/special forces, the domestic opposition to the wars in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia rapidly fizzled out. And by the 1980s, our War on Poor People Crime effectively put the kabash on the kind of neighborhood organizing/defense that kept communities from falling under aggressive police cartels.
I think American politicians don’t really want conscription today any more than the people do.
It was a double-edged sword. Conscription was deeply radicalizing, both in terms of domestic discontent and labor militarization.
Once Nixon ended the draft and converted operations to air war/special forces, the domestic opposition to the wars in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia rapidly fizzled out. And by the 1980s, our War on
Poor PeopleCrime effectively put the kabash on the kind of neighborhood organizing/defense that kept communities from falling under aggressive police cartels.I think American politicians don’t really want conscription today any more than the people do.