# Poll: Will the U.S. have a draft in the near future? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 27, 2004, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-will-the-u-s-have-a-draft-in-the-near-future/281771 "2004-12-27T14:24:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-will-the-u-s-have-a-draft-in-the-near-future/281771/41 "2004-12-28T15:30:02Z")
> [@lost in the post](#): > > (2) So, young person, you say you’re unemployed? Well, join the military! Experience! Training! Benefits! Serve your country! Beats working at Wal-Mart (your other main option)! You would have to show a statistically valid relationship between unemployment rates in the volunteer age group and military service in that same group. You have not done that. And given that the various branches of the armed forces have finite enlistment quotas, which do not expand or contract with the unemployment rate, this relationship would be very difficult to show. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-will-the-u-s-have-a-draft-in-the-near-future/281771/42 "2004-12-28T16:14:39Z")
**PinkMarabou** and **lost in the post** argue that the all-volunteer armed forces will be retained because they act as a sponge to absorb unemployment or underemployment in the lower economic classes. However, a military draft _supplements_ volunteer enlistments — it does not _replace_ them. In the Vietnam era, a draft in a particular conscription district would kick in only if that district did not meet its volunteer enlistment goals. Therefore, the “sponge” effect would not be reduced by introducing a draft. ---
**Author:** ![TitoBenito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2acd7d/32.png) [@TitoBenito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TitoBenito)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-will-the-u-s-have-a-draft-in-the-near-future/281771/43 "2004-12-29T00:06:28Z")
No. If they did even mild mannered draftable me would start breaking things. ---
**Author:** ![BabaBooey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dfb087/32.png) [@BabaBooey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BabaBooey)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-will-the-u-s-have-a-draft-in-the-near-future/281771/44 "2004-12-29T01:43:04Z")
No. The only people I’ve seen promoting a draft are a few left wingers (Jesse Jackson comes to mind), I believe hoping that a draft would significantly lessen the chances of a congressman with a son to vote in favor of sending off troops. I can’t imagine being in favor of a draft would be good for political support. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-will-the-u-s-have-a-draft-in-the-near-future/281771/45 "2004-12-29T01:55:52Z")
Yes, but it will be packaged and sold in some innocous way. ---
**Author:** ![bannerrefugee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c68b51/32.png) [@bannerrefugee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bannerrefugee)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-will-the-u-s-have-a-draft-in-the-near-future/281771/46 "2004-12-29T02:26:22Z")
It is very unlikely. As **Menocchio** pointed out-we will loose the war in Iraq before endangering Republican politicians. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-will-the-u-s-have-a-draft-in-the-near-future/281771.md?page=2)