Civilization Is Worth It
The war in the Middle East had stretched into three years. The President who started it had retired, but the war continued. The politicians who supported the President were not re-elected, but the war continued. Wars take on lives of their own from the lives they destroy. Everyone believed civilization was worth it.
The war was costly. Health and Social Services were cut. Many consumer products were no longer produced, oil prices remained high, people had to cut back on their lives, including heat for their homes. Only the nation’s flags were cheap.
Invading and occupying parts of the other nation had taken a devastating toll. In a war dominated by electronics, ground troops have few buttons to push. They were there to gold until they died. The military needed replacements–more than replacements, to continue the war. Everyone believed civilization was worth it.
The government needed to start a draft. It knew many in its key recruits—people in their twenties—hated the war. They would fight a draft, possibly flee to an adjacent country. So when the government initiated the draft, it concentrated on the elderly with dementia and children 15-17. The children often welcomed leaving school (teenagers!) and the elderly were simply shipped off from retirement homes. Training was brief, mostly to uniform them and show them where the safeties were on their weapons. The airplane seats on the troop carriers were comfy.
None returned home.
Everyone believed civilization was worth it, except for the drafted.