Optimism
That last post was on the pessimistic side. This time I'll try to help out.
The executive summary of the AEI proposal includes a note that, "The president must issue a personal call for young Americans to volunteer to fight in the decisive conflict of this generation."
This is probably because the U.S. is running out of, you know, armed services. Also from the AEI summary: "The ground forces must accept longer tours for several years. National Guard units will have to accept increased deployments during this period. ... Equipment shortages must be overcome by transferring equipment from non-deploying active-duty, National Guard, and reserve units to those about to deploy. Military industry must be mobilized to provide replacement equipment sets urgently."
As a country we haven't been asked to change our lifestyle one bit yet, except maybe for longer lines at airports, so we should all know that a call for enlistment just won't happening. As such, a more creative solution to generate military personnel is needed.
Here's an alternate source of additional troops -- prisons. There are approximately 2 million people currently incarcerated in the U.S., and what are they doing? Nothing, that's what.
A prison recruitment program could start small, presenting an early release option to individuals incarcerated for non-violent minor drug offenses. I'm completely certain the Army would be in favor of this, and that no poor result is possible from training and arming a population of one-time drug users and convicts. Just like how there's no downside to older recruits, high school drop-outs, a larger percentage of individuals scoring in the lowest range for intelligence on Army aptitude tests, or any poorly chosen population based on slipping standards.
We're so winning this thing.
The executive summary of the AEI proposal includes a note that, "The president must issue a personal call for young Americans to volunteer to fight in the decisive conflict of this generation."
This is probably because the U.S. is running out of, you know, armed services. Also from the AEI summary: "The ground forces must accept longer tours for several years. National Guard units will have to accept increased deployments during this period. ... Equipment shortages must be overcome by transferring equipment from non-deploying active-duty, National Guard, and reserve units to those about to deploy. Military industry must be mobilized to provide replacement equipment sets urgently."
As a country we haven't been asked to change our lifestyle one bit yet, except maybe for longer lines at airports, so we should all know that a call for enlistment just won't happening. As such, a more creative solution to generate military personnel is needed.
Here's an alternate source of additional troops -- prisons. There are approximately 2 million people currently incarcerated in the U.S., and what are they doing? Nothing, that's what.
A prison recruitment program could start small, presenting an early release option to individuals incarcerated for non-violent minor drug offenses. I'm completely certain the Army would be in favor of this, and that no poor result is possible from training and arming a population of one-time drug users and convicts. Just like how there's no downside to older recruits, high school drop-outs, a larger percentage of individuals scoring in the lowest range for intelligence on Army aptitude tests, or any poorly chosen population based on slipping standards.
We're so winning this thing.
Labels: politics
posted by blerg3000 at 12:05 PM
2 Comments:
I think you are thinking too small. What we do is institute a draft that picks from prisons first, based on the prisoners meeting established criteria. Once we run out of those people we expand the draft, because where do people who try to get out of the draft end up? That's right, prison! Where we can then force them to serve.
Seriously, though. Do you ever find yourself thinking that a draft might do us some damn good? That if we were still sending the real cream of the crop over there [to get the crop creamed out of them], the Establishment might have thought differently about wading into this particular quagmire? And if so, do you ever think that while well aware that, if we'd had a draft your whole life, you'd consider it a fascist tool?
Man, it's hard to think.
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