All Kinds Of Ways To Have A Back Door Draft.

Back in the day when back door draft was mentioned it usually had something to do with leaving the porch door open. Maybe the flap on your long underwear not being snapped up. Definitly not the same meaning as today. It has become a quasi-military term coined by those who oppose automatic stop gap retaining of the troops in a war time armed force. I have noticed a recent turn of another type of back door draft.

Living in a small town like Roswell I have seen the results of this recession hit hard. Along with the fact that there is nothing  for our youthful population to do except crank and crime,  jobs are dwindling.  Unskilled labor jobs being filled by recently unemployed workers mean that even fast food burger flippin’ jobs are unavailable. My favorite late night hangout Dennys, had an opening for a dishwasher a couple of weeks ago and the manager was bitching that she had about 60 applications for the part time position. Usually she had a choice of 4 or 5 high school kids but some of these applicants were people she graduated with in the class of ‘84. Even our dairy industry has been hit hard because the increase in cheese prices have caused many people to cut back on buying any. The guy she hired is in his late 40’s. Trying to keep a house payment for his teenaged kids security made him desperate for a job of any kind. His unemployment has already run out.

The only increase of job openings here has been as correctional officers. The jails are filling up with petty criminals, another sign of rising unemployment. A young friend of mine was facing jail here but his mom made some kind of deal with the judge that she would send him to rehab in place of a criminal conviction.

Off he went to 90 days of intense rehab for crank use. He did well and came home clean. Ready to go to work and try to get his young life together his excitement was only matched by his mothers. Trying not to hang out with his old buddies and avoiding falling back into the old trap of addiction was made harder by the fact he can’t find a job. He talked to an Army recruiter and 2 days later he was all signed up.

They promised him an assignment in South Korea. Not usually a dangerous assignment and he was happy. He hasn’t left for basic training yet but I suspect…and predict…he will not be going to Seoul.  The smart money goes to a deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan. ‘Course I am hoping for Korea but the wars being fought right now is not there.

The recession and resulting unemployment problem is doing wonders for military recruiters. More and more young Americans are joining up so they can provide for themselves and their families. The pay is not great but better than trying to raise their families on the street.

Having sceptical doubts about all things government, as well as living in Roswell where I am constantly immersed in conspiracy theories, I have begun to wonder about all of this. Seems like a pattern here.

The military sees a drop in new recruits.  The war machine is not making as much profit as it did a couple of years ago. New war fronts are “needed”. The backroom plans for increased actions in Afghanistan, Iran, North Korea…hell…all of the countries whose leaders are “crazy” are under some threat from the United States. But there needs to be a larger military to fight the planned wars so increased recruitment needs a tool.

Unemployment is a great tool. How better to increase unemployment, and therefore the armed forces, than to create an economic meltdown?

Increased war means jobs. From the men and women who  sign up for the military to the factory workers who will be soon making more tools of war. I predict the Big Three automakers will soon be out of financial trouble from making the vehicles needed in war. The housing glut will become filled with more and more workers able to either return to their foreclosed homes or into another one. Unemployment will be down soon as our country glides into economic repair. Soon it will all be okay.

On the backs of the soldiers who are signing up…just to have a job.

A hell of a way to make a draft. Open the back door.

(Picture above stolen from Rocky Mountain News, 2/1/09 in an article titled “Economic Slide A Boon To Military Recruiters”)

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