So let’s just say we have decided to let rich people fight the wars they start. How might we (legally) conscript the children of the Ruling Class?
Off the top the head, I would figure we could decide to only conscript those who score in the very highest category on the ASVAB test. Then we could just assume any person who has graduated from an Ivy League university would be among these high-flyers, no test needed.
Would such a dodge stand up in court?
A good many of Ivy League students attend on financial aid.
ETA: if you are going discriminate on income status, why worry about standing up to some court criteria, just change the law and the constitution to make it happen.
If you are serious, the first thing you need to do is to define “The Ruling Class” and do so in a way that narrows it down to those among The Ruling Class who “start wars”. Do you think yo can do that? Because “rich people” and “people who start wars” aren’t the same set.
The best way to start would be draft the children of every US president since at least Eisenhower, with the exception of Carter. Then you could work your way down the food chain.
Since this is a hypothetical, let’s move it to Great Debates.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
Why would we draft anybody? We’ve had an all-volunteer force for decades now, and the military likes it that way. Why would we regress to drafting people against their will?
I don’t know about the U.S, but upper-class people in many countries often have a long tradition of service in the armed forces. So you might not need to.
If we’re trying to stop the elites from starting uneccesary wars, why not just shoot them if they do?
Or, radical thought, vote warmongers out of office? These are just ideas.
It would’t occur overnight, but, make a having served in the military a precursor to serving in the Senate or Congress. Having been there, they might think a little more about the realities of war vs ideology.
I’ll tentatively offer this little bit of evidence (a Freakonomics article from a few years ago about a Heritage report that I can’t find a direct link to) to support this point. It appears that higher income individuals are over-represented in the military.
Kind of a Starship Troopers citizens vs civilians thing, huh?
or require that, while in office, each member of the House and Senate have a child or grandchild in military service.
For good measure, also any lobbyist for military contractors.
No more childless men or women in Congress? No gays unless they managed to adopt a kid and then ship them off to the military?
As much as the idea you responded to was stupid, you do know that gays can have kids the old fashioned way, right?
Also, straight men can have gay sex.
Not saying they should, or that it would be sane to suggest that it should be a basic requirement for them to do this before holding office, I’m just saying it’s possible.
RIght! If only J.F.K., Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon or George H.W. Bush had served in the military, they might have thought twice about involving us in wars. Even better, they should have been required to serve overseas during wartime, experienced combat and received medals. They’d have kept the peace, no matter what!
Wait a minute…
Let’s have a cite for the veracity of this statement.
You forget that draft-dodger, Eisenhower.
Also, George W. Bush. But that might have been on purpose. 
What is stopping them from doing this now? No recruiter would turn someone down for service because they had too much money.
If you have to ask that question, I think you’ve been spending too much time in Qatar.
How do we draft anyone? You did know that the draft hasn’t really been in effect the Vietnam war…right?
Why worry about legality when you want to do something like this? Just take the rich all out into a field somewhere (along with the landowners and intellectuals) and shoot them in the head, or maybe (if bullets are too costly) beat them over the head with rocks? Just take your pointers from Pol Pot or Mao, that’s the ticket!
Right…so, rich people and intellectuals. See? You are on the right track!
Why worry about that? I’d say the main dodge would be that your test would get the smart people and a lot of the rich would skate because they wouldn’t score as high, even if they tried. Having money does not equate to doing well on a test, especially if you have to do all that studying stuff. Going to an Ivy League school also doesn’t mean you learned anything there.
But, you don’t have to fret about those details…you’ll get all the rich some other way, and have all the intellectuals too. Then you can identify the counter-revolutionaries and really get down to business. It’s fool proof!