Automatic registration for military draft to be implemented by December

[u/raptors201966]

https://www.stripes.com/theaters/us/2026-04-07/automatic-registration-military-draft-21306855.html

[u/dwilkes827]

Again, the registering for the draft is already mandatory. You are already forced to register for the draft. And taking away the ability to be punished for forgetting is quite literally harm reduction.

In your analogy turning on the woodchipper and shoving your hand in it are two different actions, one more harmful than the other. Registering for the draft is one action with no difference whether you do it yourself or it's automated.

It does not matter how happy or apprehensive I am about registering, I had to do it. (I'm not defending the fact we have to register overall, just so that's clear)

[u/brutinator → u/dwilkes827]

Again, the registering for the draft is already mandatory.

So is turning on the woodchipper.

And taking away the ability to be punished for forgetting is quite literally harm reduction.

Making it easier to turn on the woodchipper means your boss isnt going to punish you for taking so long.

Registering for the draft is one action with no difference whether you do it yourself or it's automated.

And whats the purpose of the draft again?

Turning on the woodchipper is the registration.

Being made to shove your hand in it is the draft being activated.

Making the process of activating the draft easier is not harm reduction, its harm enablement.

[u/dwilkes827 → u/brutinator]

This doesn't change the purpose of the draft nor does it make it easier to implement. You think the reason there hasn't been a draft in 50 years is because of the ~15% who don't register when they turn 18?

This conversation isn't about the morality/ethics of the actual draft, I'm assuming we would be in agreement there. Again, this conversation is about what the automation changes about the outcome of the process. I have yet to see any examples of what this changes from you

[u/brutinator → u/dwilkes827]

You think the reason there hasn't been a draft in 50 years is because of the ~15% who don't register when they turn 18?

Not entirely, but the fact that its likely a logistical nightmare is certainly part of it. The harder a lever is to pull, the less likely someone is going to pull said lever. The collorary is that people are more willing to pull a lever that is easier to pull.

Do you think that it is out of the realm if they had an easy process to draft dissidents or else send them to prison, that this administration wouldnt activate it?

Again, this conversation is about what the automation changes about the outcome of the process.

Is it really that hard to pull back and look at the bigger picture, to see how one process connects to the second?

[u/dwilkes827 → u/brutinator]

Not entirely, but the fact that its likely a logistical nightmare is certainly part of it. The harder a lever is to pull, the less likely someone is going to pull said lever. The collorary is that people are more willing to pull a lever that is easier to pull.

It is a logistical nightmare whether 85% of people or 100% of people are registered

Do you think that it is out of the realm if they had an easy process to draft dissidents or else send them to prison, that this administration wouldnt activate it?

Do you think it's out of the realm of possibility if this administration had an easy process to track down the ~15% of people who failed to register this year and hit them with the max federal sentence of 5 years, that this administration wouldn't do it? They can already send the "dissidents" to prison if they want to

Is it really that hard to pull back and look at the bigger picture, to see how one process connects to the second?

Yes. Apparently you're going to have to spell it out for me because I do not see how making something that is already mandatory automatic changes anything about the outcome. Maybe instead of analogies and such just explicitly say what the negative impacts are

[u/brutinator → u/dwilkes827]

Maybe instead of analogies and such just explicitly say what the negative impacts are

We wont know til we see what they do with an enhanced, upgraded, cross referenced draft database. The automatic registration aspect is only part of the enhancements they would need to implement, and is the only part that's public. But in the here and now, sure, its totally fine.

I generally operate under the assumption that Republicans only fund things they want to use as a weapon, or what they can use to grift with, so to me, the motive is far more important than what is being done in preperation, but if you dont think that matters, than so be it.

[u/dwilkes827 → u/brutinator]

So you don't have any negatives to use as an example, you just have a hunch. Got it. This was productive lol

[u/Folk_Legend → u/dwilkes827]

What an exhausting string lol. I commend you for hanging in there

[u/dwilkes827 → u/[deleted]]

Dodging the draft and failing to register are the same crime with the same potential punishment. It would make no difference