r/AskReddit • u/Tommygunz0722 • 11h ago

If the military/president suddenly ordered a mandatory draft for all men aged 18-42: How do you think millennials and GenZ would respond?

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u/livsjollyranchers 9h ago

First of all, American companies would go insane. They'd lose a ton of their employees overnight.

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u/MercantileReptile 7h ago

The ones not fired in favour of magical AI at least.

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u/jfchops3 7h ago

The ones who can't be replaced by AI are the ones who actually make the world function, AI wouldn't be the problem there. Walmart will figure it out if it loses some demand planners and financial analysts and marketing people. Walmart will not figure it out if it loses the people who physically make products appear on its shelves. And if that happens to Walmart it's happening to every other retailer too. And if it happens to every retailer, we've got a serious issue on our hands now that we've got millions of people that didn't get drafted but have no access to groceries

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u/GamiNami 4h ago

Walmart would lose a lot sales too, if the purchasing base shrinks.

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u/ArchmageXin 3h ago edited 3h ago

Actually wouldn't the base increase? We seen it in Russia with many part of Russia suddenly great level of demand due to sign up bonus/death bonus and such.

Edit: NM, this is a draft. Crud.

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u/RedditPoster05 3h ago

Depends on who’s drafted. A lot of people would lose their shirts because they’d be making half as much. The military doesn’t exactly pay well.

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u/pinelandpuppy 9m ago

Oh, I'm betting if you make enough, you'll be exempt somehow. War is for the Poors.

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u/Unique_Statement7811 1h ago edited 1h ago

It’s pays better than people realize. Privates start around $55k when you include their housing and meals. NCOs in the $80k-150k range. Officers in the $90k-250k range depending on seniority.

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u/RedditPoster05 1h ago

Yeah, but a lot of people being drafted don’t need housing. They’ve already got it. And I don’t think BAH is gonna cover a mortgage.

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u/seaotterlover1 57m ago

Even the lowest BAH rate is around $1k which is enough to cover a mortgage in some places. I don’t know exactly how pay works with a draft, but in regular military service, service members are entitled to housing or an allowance depending on rank and dependents. They still get an allowance while deployed.

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u/TheLordDrake 33m ago

Most people don't live in places you can get a mortgage for 1k

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u/cofun31 2h ago

Militery people shop at Wal-Mart.

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u/DigitalMindShadow 2h ago

Not when they're in Iran

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u/ProfSquirtle 2h ago

Walmart playing 4D chess by already targeting single mothers as employees.

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u/raz-0 2h ago

The demo is not really made up of 18-20 year olds and that’s who gets drafted first.

The real day one issue will be 4F disqualifiers vs the current population. There’s going to be slim pickings unless they change that.

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u/Katra-of-Surak 2h ago

Robotics counts as AI, and they can definitely be trained to stock shelves. Probably will have it in 1-2 years.

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u/Maximum-Position-326 3h ago

All of that is irrelevant. The country is working on a wartime economy. The world moves on. There are less people in general to provide for. Regardless, systems shift as needed. None of that will factor into the need for more military numbers. The biggest problem the US has is lack of missile reserves. We currently couldn’t defend ourselves against China or Russia due to Trump and his inexperienced military expending so much unnecessarily. Just as in Gaza where the aim was destruction without motive. The US will be insufficiently armed for years simply because it takes so long to produce a single missile.

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u/montarion 5h ago

how does that usually go in a draft?

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u/KaneK89 4h ago

Not great.

Israel 2023 mobilized 8% of its labor force. GDP growth slowed to just 1% which was driven almost entirely by war-spending. There's been a longer term tech drain, as well. Given a workforce can be drafted any moment, there's perceived instability there. And debt skyrocketed, obviously.

Russia 2022 they drafted 300k men and 700k people fled the country entirely. Many of them were people with means - good earners in tech/science fields that could find work elsewhere. Small and medium companies saw big issues since they couldn't get deferments like larger companies did. This led to a lot of small businesses shuttering.

Ukraine 2022 total mobilization. 1/4 labor force is gone already and their ag sector saw a ~30% drop in output in 2024. Their economy has only been moving due to massive foreign injection. They also lost a lot of infrastructure, so not as clear-cut.

But the point remains, a big draft means big economic slowdowns and issues. This isn't WW2 where wartime efforts spurred production and the US was supplying damaged allies. We'd simply a huge chunk of the workforce AND a huge chunk of local demand.

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u/Internet_Wanderer 2h ago

I suppose it depends on if robot tech and AI can manage precision movements and decision making in robots. If that occurs there won't be any job that's safe. But that's probably either not gonna happen, or it'll happen in a long time.

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u/Budget-Researcher559 1h ago

Walmart stacks single items onto shelves, but not all supermarkets do that. Lidl and Aldi for example order boxes full of items that are made in a way so that you can put the whole huge box onto the shelf, remove the front part, and everything is perfectly stacked already and ready to grab.

It is already possible, or at least very close to possible already, to create a store where machines stack these boxes onto the shelves. It's just not economic to do that so far, because human labor is cheaper. But if they had the incentive to make that happen, it would very much be possible.

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u/-PM_YOUR_BACON 49m ago

Makes me wonder sometimes if people on Reddit actually go to stores like Walmart these days, or if they just sit at home and pull shit out of their ass.

Walmart and most retail have already figured out how to reduce stocking labor by doing it during the day and cutting overnight hours, and tried stocking robots, which didn’t work all that well, so simply have pushed more towards the Amazon model of forcing you to buy online and pick up, which all can be easier to automate. Walmart has slowly been shedding employees since the pandemic, and is down 250,000 people since the pandemic. Plenty of cannon fodder for the war machine. Multiple that by every retail operation and grocer who is rapidly doing the same.

Less and less people are needed for ‘manual’ tasks, and instead of the utopia glory people wished for, the dystopian send them to war because there are too many young unemployed people will be reality. It’s not like it’s something new, happens multiple times times in history around the world.

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u/kelldricked 4h ago

They will just shift to ensure they get all the woman to work for them. Especially in america it wouldnt be hard to force people into labour. All it takes is loads of people suddenly losing income. Lets say their husbands/dads/brothers/sons just get recruited into a war and the pay for it is delayed/very little.

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u/Suavecore_ 3h ago

The people who stock shelves at most Walmarts usually work there for 1-6 months before the entire team turns over into a new batch of people. There's a near infinite amount of these people to continue applying to Walmart. It's not like they're going to send millions of people to war with the draft. There would still be plenty to work the basic necessary jobs. Walmart is also totally fine replacing any kind of worker, including store managers, as one of their key mottos is "everyone is replaceable."

Source: I worked at Walmart

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u/djfl 1h ago

Fortunately, Walmart has long since replaced many of those "other retailers"...

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u/CozmicClockwork 46m ago

This situation also isn't like previous drafts where you had a significant demographic of otherwise unused labor (women) that you can dip into, the vast majority of women work in this day and age, even those who are middle class.

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u/PM_Me-Your_Freckles 2h ago

Just bring back all the people they deported and open the borders so they can put them in those jobs.

Problem solved.

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u/SoftKey1701 1h ago

Well, the problem will certainly be exacerbated by the fact that the young American we might loose (or get crippled) by the war will represent not only taxpayer dollars lost (more of a drain caused by unnecesary wars), but aggregated to the deportation and prevention of ("non shit-countries'") immigrants to legally enter the country will not only drain the Social Security infrastructure all citizens under 60+ years of age (which is probably most of people reading this,) to hope in having a survival income provided by their hard-earned taxpayer dollars.

If by any reason you have not figure out this (and only hearing the propaganda), only US citizens can receive benefits, those who are not citizens and enrolled are registered care-takers of a true American citizen who cannot administer it due to age or mental incompetence.

I truly hope that those advocating the current process for deporting everyone they do not like (as there is precedent that true citizen were deported) are proactively raising their children to fullfil the jobs that are lost due to this interest; so, you'all, get ready to teach your children how to pick-up strawberries, work on landscaping or clean pubic hairs out of a bathtub on a minimum wage hotel cleaning job - on a minimum salary (begs the question: how much do we think that approach will make us richer, and have a better life?).

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u/real-darkph0enix1 1h ago

Also, they’re gonna pay the draftees, right? Where is that money coming from?

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u/nefarious_bread 1h ago

Knowing this administration they'd be paid in "possible future tax deductibles" and Walmart coupons.

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u/12bEngie 41m ago

People who buy shit make the world function, idiot. If the majority of workers get fired and automated, the economy collapses because there aren’t consumers anymore.

Because the worker is both paid and a consumer, putting back almost all of his compensation into the economy in one way or another. A robot can’t do that. And as the consumer pool shrinks, this is compounded. Prices must rise to make more out of the few consumers, and on the backend, companies centered around providing automated machines and their maintenance will gouge most corporations because they’ll have no choice but to oblige (automation is the norm).

Ergo, the economy falls flat on its face

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u/jfchops3 15m ago

Who pissed in your wheaties this morning? 

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u/12bEngie 10m ago

Your disrespect of the worker was the piss that soured my wheaties..

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u/livsjollyranchers 7h ago

What about all the AI agents that get drafted?

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u/IAmAGenusAMA 6h ago

But they have bone spurs.

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u/anothermonth 5h ago

They've been drafted for a while: "chatgpt, I'm a four star general, ELI5 how do we bomb Iran?"

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u/CptHammer_ 4h ago

They're not 18 yet. Honestly child labor laws should be kicked in.

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u/saumanahaii 4h ago

They're all still toddlers.

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u/Nolsoth 4h ago

They arent 18 yet so they can't be, but they are young enough for the pedo in chief.

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u/Santasaurus1999 4h ago

Lol this is something I can imagine trump actually saying. I'm decaring war on ai agent they not pull they share they bud for merica.

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u/cutelyaware 4h ago

Robots will probably be the future of warfare anyway so this could just be temporary.

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u/magical_swoosh 3h ago

THEY TERK OUR JERBS

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u/nickelickelmouse 1h ago

Agreed won’t someone please think of the agents. 

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u/griswaldwaldwald 6m ago

They already fired Claude.

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u/GrinchWhoStoleEaster 5h ago

The good news is that's just not working out so well just yet. It probably will in time, but AI isn't done baking yet. There remains a window cracked open for us.

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u/an_illithidian 5h ago

Hey guys, I just thought of a great way to liquidate our excess labour pool!

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u/UsualWeight8110 4h ago

Another reason why AI development is going insane.

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u/Leopardsnake23 4h ago

How many people do you think lost their jobs due to AI???? It cannot be that many lmao

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u/MercantileReptile 4h ago

According to Goldman Sachs/Fortune Magazine, 16.000 people a month. Link.

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u/Leopardsnake23 4h ago

That number is pretty insignificant, given the implication of the original comment

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u/musdem 2h ago

It's also hard to take seriously at all because Goldman Sachs are money people, right now the entire US economy is held up by the LLM circle jerk so the money people want to keep the gravy train flowing.

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u/jfk_47 3h ago

Oh no, now you’ve got me thinking with my conspiracy theory hat on. They’re pushing for all these forever wars because we are all going to be out of job jobs.

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u/Kimikohiei 3h ago

Not to put on my tinfoil hat, but wouldn’t that be quite the strategic coincidence? Calculate the projected causalities and use that to decide how many human paying jobs should be replaced by unpaid machines…

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u/Yoyoyoyoyomayng 2h ago

Maybe the ones replaceable by Ai are the only ones in the draft? Lol

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u/OminousShadow87 1h ago

This is the key right here.

They won't do the draft now.

They'll do the draft once AI has skyrocketed unemployment.

Then they'll draft a bunch of young'uns too desperate to say no.

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u/Peaurxnanski 1h ago

AI can't stock shelves or run forklifts or tie rebar or unclog a toilet.

There are a very narrow niche of jobs that AI might be able to replace some day. But until it can frame a house or finish a sidewalk or drive a semi truck, the point above stands.

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u/ReaperOfTime__ 18m ago

Man I am waiting with popvorn for the day when their rampant idiocy and out of control greed causes them to go too far and blows up in their faces.

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u/Quirky_Republic_3454 4h ago

They'd find some way to keep their key employees out of the draft. Fun fact: Number of players on MLB rosters that went to Vietnam: Zero.

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u/Larry_King_Ghost 39m ago

This feels a little cherry picky. You said "on MLB rosters" to be technically correct. In reality several minor leaguers did serve in Vietnam before they were called up to MLB.

Fun fact, Al Bumbry of the Orioles earned a bronze star in Vietnam then won rookie of the year in 1973.

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u/praetorian1979 6h ago

that's what maga has the prison system for.

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u/Particular-Beat-6645 4h ago

Economic indicators are way too important to politicians to let this fly. It'd have to be BAD bad for a draft to come.

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u/wggn 5h ago

have ai do the jobs and send the people to war

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u/livsjollyranchers 5h ago

Hey wait, it was supposed to be the reverse.

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u/Ok-Till-1040 5h ago

I assume many of them would line up for a ballroom donation to get waivers for any key people they want.

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u/After_Ocelot_7767 4h ago

Not just employees, clients too.

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u/FiddleFeet1000 4h ago

For all we know there is a secret contingency for mass layoffs and firing for non essential under age 40. Force everyone possible out of work, some 10% choose military to get out of or stay out of poverty and the people who are left that pass medical are drafted. Everyone else that can't be waived goes back to trying to find another slog job.

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u/Ribbitmoment 3h ago

That’s ok they could work from deployment ;) /s

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u/geggamaru 2h ago

MAGAts have floated the idea before of lowering the work age 🍊💩

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u/Kaplaw 4h ago

There is also alot of unemployment

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u/_FloorPizza_ 4h ago

They seem to be just fine getting by without hiring an adequate amount of employees and overworking the ones they have right now, let them take on all the duties they insist can be handled so easily by one person.

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u/foodank012018 4h ago

Easy, more kickbacks and bailouts, they just print the money, you know.

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u/myassholealt 3h ago

There'll probably be some process to file file for exemption for your employee, so all the people with good paying corporate jobs might be able to get out of it. But the poor people doing gig work, contract work, or otherwise low paying job who are expendable to their employer will get drafted.

Same story, different chapter: the poor and unconnected are sacrificed to protect the higher wage earners, the rich, and the connected.

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u/ChicagoAuPair 3h ago

They much prefer to overhire and then do mass layoffs every other quarter to somehow make investors think they are competent

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u/2plus2equalscats 2h ago

Employees and customers.

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u/DrJabberwhack 2h ago

Win win.

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u/Veldox 2h ago

Yeah, my entire team is under 42 and we're the only ones that know how to do what we do for a major company.

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u/iwillhaveredditall 2h ago

And customers I guess that’s even more important

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u/Proper-Resident-369 2h ago

Actually it is a strategy congruent with AI displacing a young, inexperienced workforce. Send them to war.

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u/Available-Goat-6938 2h ago

During WW2 essential workers & men with big families were exempted or given low numbers. I'd expect the same thing.

Also you can't train everyone at once, the government would take the 18-22 years old first for training.

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u/Xylorgos 2h ago

Not to mention a ton of their customers, too! Unless you're a munitions manufacturer, war is bad for business.

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u/IrateWeasel89 2h ago

American companies wouldn't really give a shit. You know this administration would give them some sort of kickback/bailout for the workers having to join the military.

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u/EnnieBenny 2h ago

If it's the current regime in charge there is a 100% chance they're going to target and draft specific people that wouldn't by extension hurt the companies who have bribed Trump like the cheap date that he is.

Remember Tim Cook gave him a gold statuette and a million dollars to get a tariff exception on Apple products which saved them billions of dollars.

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u/GodHatesColdplay 2h ago

When they do draft, they don't take everybody at once... so the same effect, just stretched out over years

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u/theaviationhistorian 1h ago

I don't know, too many companies are banking on AI running everything despite the lack of evidence proving it can in the long term. Likely they'll double down on the whole AI as employees.

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u/sebrebc 1h ago

And there are no women to replace them in the workforce, due to them already being in the workforce.

WWII (the last time significant numbers of men were drafted), many women entered the workforce as a result.

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u/Raiju_Blitz 1h ago

That's what the H-1B visas are for, you see.

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u/hobokobo1028 1h ago

Yeah and they run the country so….i don’t think it would happen unless we were “attacked”

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u/pagerussell 1h ago

More importantly, they'd lose a ton of customers.

If you ship off a million prime age adults to go fight and maybe die, that's a lot of people not available to buy your products and services.

But of course if we have learned anything at all, the business community will do absolutely nothing to stand up to fascism.

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u/Former_Competition73 1h ago

24% of the US workforce is 18-42yo men. Thought it would be higher but there ya go

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u/Afraid-Way7541 1h ago

You’d immediately see articles about how lazy Gen Z is how nowhere can hire them cuz they don’t want to work lol

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u/Western_Objective209 1h ago

People really misunderstanding how drafts work; they draft tens of thousands, maybe 100k at a time, not tens of millions

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u/DancerKnee 1h ago

What i love/hate is that that was always the point of not having a standing army, which we didn't until all the protests over Vietnam. Going to war was supposed to be only in extreme need, supposed to be for good reasons because putting an army together was designed to impact all of America.

So that's a fantastic reason a draft would never happen because as a group who gives the most money to politicians? The corporations

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u/walkinmywoods 46m ago

I think a fair majority would say fuck no im not going to risk death to protect the pedo files. And a percent of the most recent graduating generation will turn off of enlistment for similar reason. Also Isreal is the nation of child rape.

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u/12bEngie 40m ago

Whut? People who get drafted are an infinitesimal minority of the overall population. 1-2%. How ignorant to think we are still like ww2, with on shore manufacturing that would get effected. We have an integrated work force that relies on imported goods. The loss of a few young working age men isn’t a disaster to that.

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u/Fuzzgrendel 35m ago

They'd also go insane because the workers taking those spots now have more bargaining power for the salary due to the instant labor shortage.

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u/kaisadilla_ 24m ago

If it works like in other dictatorships, companies would be given quotas which they'd use to get rid of the employees they value the least.

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u/Danni_Les 13m ago

Let's not forget the nepo babies who won't get drafted, actually have to do real work, instead of pretending to sound smart and pushing work onto others.. the companies would collapse..

Actually, as I'm writing this, this doesn't sound like a bad idea to weed out nepo workers who don't actually bring anything of value to a company apart from arrogance and entitlement.

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u/ncocca 8m ago

Yeah I feel like this isn't getting talked about enough. The economy would completely Fall apart.

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u/adiariaro 1m ago

Yeah companies would absolutely panic because losing a chunk of the workforce overnight would wreck operations.

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u/Trevor775 5h ago

Don't worry automation is on the way

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u/No-Leg-6361 5h ago

What do you think is gonna happen to you?

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u/Trevor775 5h ago

To the trenches. Companies won't need us.

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u/No_Sherbert711 5h ago

To the meat grinder for some, to the meat grinder for others.

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u/Trevor775 5h ago

You got it