5 ms·

Can the state currently send your kids to war? By this, I mean forcefully via a draft. I was under the impression that it's a no for now and for the foreseeable

• ef4 9y ago
  Yes, they can. Every male between 18 and 25 is still required to register for the draft. The database is sitting there ready to go. The president just has to declare an emergency and convince congress to approve activation of the selective service system. In practice, will they? Probably not. But weirder things have happened.
  • kevinmannix 9y ago
    That's true, my comment was probably short-sighted. I received federal loans, so my name is in that database. Like you said, crazier things have happened.
• creaghpatr 9y ago
  Absolutely, under the right procedures. Just recently, women became required to register for selective service too, so everyone gets an equal shot now.
• rpiguy 9y ago
  Every male has to register for the selective service (the draft) at 18 in the US allowing the government to draft you. If you got a student loan from the government in the US, you registered. You can't get federal loans without it. Just because they can do it at any time doesn't mean they ever will. We have a large and expensive professional army and people reacted badly to the draft in 1960s I can only imagine what today's kids would do if they were drafted. It would be political suicide to enact a draft. So technically yes the state can forcefully draft any male between 18-28 to go fight in a war. But practically no, it will never happen again.