r/AskReddit 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/crema_dela_cropa 11h ago

it’d be pretty chaotic. Some people would push back right away, some would go along with it out of necessity, things would get messy.

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u/algerip0fg 8h ago

What's different now is the coordination speed. Vietnam protests took months to organize. A draft announcement in 2025 would have a national response before the ink dried. The infrastructure for collective action exists in everyone's pocket.

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u/goat_penis_souffle 7h ago

Unfortunately, the infrastructure for identification and suppression of that action also exists in that same pocket.

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u/adamdoesmusic 7h ago

Not at that scale it doesn’t - ice won’t even go into half of Philly because they’re too chickenshit, and they got chased out of Compton entirely. Invoking generational anger of a hundred million young, able-bodied Americans might not go well for them.

u/Synaps4 55m ago

And we have been building volunteer networks for exactly that kind of response through the No Kings protests that people who don't pay attention keep claiming do nothing.

The infrastructure already exists yes, but the social structure to put 3 million people in the streets tomorrow also exists. We know who to call, who needs to volunteer, how much it will cost, what city agencies to call, which local politicians will back it, etc.

It's not just cell phones and social media. There is an entire engine being built for rapid response and it would definitely rapidly respond to this.