Palantir Wants to Reinstate the Draft • Hacker News Board

Re: Palantir Wants to Reinstate the Draft

#81

Post by _doctor_love » Mon, Apr 20, 2026, 5:17 PM UTC

cdrnsf wrote: post #57

_doctor_love wrote: post #20

Other countries have compulsory military service, for example Finland. Generally speaking I am a fan of the idea that everyone should be required to do some kind of community service for 2 years once they turn 18. Military service would just be one option, could be other kinds of civic engagement. This can really help people feel connected to their society and understand that there is something to show up for. BUT -…

The US hasn't cared about the social contract for decades and it hasn't taken justifiable military action for a longer stretch of time. Healthcare is byzantine and terrible, education is being gutted on ideological grounds, social stability is eroding, wealth inequality is an ever widening chasm, the climate is being degraded, AI is a threat looming over much (if not all) of this. Why volunteer? The arrogance to thin…

> Why volunteer? The arrogance to think a draft or mandatory service is anywhere in the realm of acceptable is galling.

Agree. That's what we saw during Vietnam. The public finally got involved because it couldn't be ignored that the children of "normies" were being sent overseas to die in a meaningless and stupid war.

Re: Palantir Wants to Reinstate the Draft

#82

Post by dawnerd » Mon, Apr 20, 2026, 5:17 PM UTC

_doctor_love wrote: post #20

Other countries have compulsory military service, for example Finland. Generally speaking I am a fan of the idea that everyone should be required to do some kind of community service for 2 years once they turn 18. Military service would just be one option, could be other kinds of civic engagement. This can really help people feel connected to their society and understand that there is something to show up for. BUT -…

Only works if everyone has to do it. Once you slice it into only a certain part of the population, it becomes an unfair class system. Example, rich and well connected people would never do it. If you say only men should do it, that's unfair as well.

Edit: I'm for this BTW, I think everyone should have to do some form of service, but I'd also like to see anyone in the gov with the power to send people to war be required to have served in the armed forces.

Re: Palantir Wants to Reinstate the Draft

#83

Post by rhcom2 » Mon, Apr 20, 2026, 5:18 PM UTC

nobodyandproud wrote: post #64

rhcom2 wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you could argue the draft forced the war to be real for more families (and the expansion of TV), intensifying the resistance to it. Quick googling says almost 10% of the population served in Vietnam in some capacity. Less than 1% served in the War on Terror. This was part of Charles Rangel's (D) reasoning to propose bringing back the draft. [1] 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_National_Service_Act

That argument falls flat, when considering regions like the Ukraine that are fighting for survival today. And when contrasting with earlier times like the Civil War, where a draft was unpopular: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enrollment_Act

I don't think I follow why your examples contradict the argument. A draft will always be unpopular.

Re: Palantir Wants to Reinstate the Draft

#84

Post by _doctor_love » Mon, Apr 20, 2026, 5:18 PM UTC

dawnerd wrote: post #82

_doctor_love wrote: post #20

Other countries have compulsory military service, for example Finland. Generally speaking I am a fan of the idea that everyone should be required to do some kind of community service for 2 years once they turn 18. Military service would just be one option, could be other kinds of civic engagement. This can really help people feel connected to their society and understand that there is something to show up for. BUT -…

Only works if everyone has to do it. Once you slice it into only a certain part of the population, it becomes an unfair class system. Example, rich and well connected people would never do it. If you say only men should do it, that's unfair as well. Edit: I'm for this BTW, I think everyone should have to do some form of service, but I'd also like to see anyone in the gov with the power to send people to war be requir…

Agree. I also think both men and women should serve.

Re: Palantir Wants to Reinstate the Draft

#85

Post by mrbnatural » Mon, Apr 20, 2026, 5:19 PM UTC

_doctor_love wrote: post #38

wahnfrieden wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And to agree with others on this thread, the folks who push for war should 100% be required to participate in them and lead from the front. Don't sell the rest of our lives while you hide in a nice air conditioned bunker. It never happens because those in power use their power to avoid it, even if they bind the rest of us with rules they enforce. By saying they "should be required", you are promoting the idea that…

> By saying they "should be required", you are promoting the idea that their desire for war is acceptable as long as they codify certain standards, which they are able to use their powers to personally circumvent. I am not.

[flagged]

Re: Palantir Wants to Reinstate the Draft

#86

Post by cjbgkagh » Mon, Apr 20, 2026, 5:19 PM UTC

_doctor_love wrote: post #70

amadeuspagel wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Finland doesn't have compulsory military service to help people feel connected to their society. Feeling connected to one's society is not an end in itself, people should be free to choose how connected they want to feel. Finland has compulsory military service because it's a small country that borders Russia. The US is a big country that borders Canada and Mexico.

> people should be free to choose how connected they want to feel Yes and no. Of course people should be free, at the same time you live in a society and not a state of nature. If someone never has to put back into society, that's dangerous. It could lead to people feeling that society has no value, that there's no sense in investing in it, that since nobody else cares why should I. That's not a world I want to live…

Many people I’ve met in the US feel like they already live in that world.

Re: Palantir Wants to Reinstate the Draft

#87

Post by _doctor_love » Mon, Apr 20, 2026, 5:19 PM UTC

mrbnatural wrote: post #79

_doctor_love wrote: post #20

Other countries have compulsory military service, for example Finland. Generally speaking I am a fan of the idea that everyone should be required to do some kind of community service for 2 years once they turn 18. Military service would just be one option, could be other kinds of civic engagement. This can really help people feel connected to their society and understand that there is something to show up for. BUT -…

Spoiler alert: military "service" is an oxymoron. No American has served me by joining the military and killing black, brown, and asian women and children

> No American has served me by joining the military and killing black, brown, and asian women and children

Oh? I would argue that most of us in the United States live in complete blissful ignore that our entire way of life is propped up by this.

Re: Palantir Wants to Reinstate the Draft

#88

Post by hkt » Mon, Apr 20, 2026, 5:19 PM UTC

chromacity wrote: post #63

_doctor_love wrote: post #20

Other countries have compulsory military service, for example Finland. Generally speaking I am a fan of the idea that everyone should be required to do some kind of community service for 2 years once they turn 18. Military service would just be one option, could be other kinds of civic engagement. This can really help people feel connected to their society and understand that there is something to show up for. BUT -…

> Generally speaking I am a fan of the idea that everyone should be required to do some kind of community service for 2 years once they turn 18. Why? I get the warm-and-fuzzy angle of "instilling civic responsibility", but you're effectively instilling that at gunpoint: the government forces you to do this, else you go to prison. Is that really such an enlightened thing to do? It takes away two years of your life, po…

> free labor

I'm not sure anywhere expects people to do their national service for free - which is to say that such a programme would also likely be very expensive.

Re: Palantir Wants to Reinstate the Draft

#89

Post by tshaddox » Mon, Apr 20, 2026, 5:19 PM UTC

chromacity wrote: post #63

_doctor_love wrote: post #20

Other countries have compulsory military service, for example Finland. Generally speaking I am a fan of the idea that everyone should be required to do some kind of community service for 2 years once they turn 18. Military service would just be one option, could be other kinds of civic engagement. This can really help people feel connected to their society and understand that there is something to show up for. BUT -…

> Generally speaking I am a fan of the idea that everyone should be required to do some kind of community service for 2 years once they turn 18. Why? I get the warm-and-fuzzy angle of "instilling civic responsibility", but you're effectively instilling that at gunpoint: the government forces you to do this, else you go to prison. Is that really such an enlightened thing to do? It takes away two years of your life, po…

It also implies that most normal work isn't in the interest of society, which if that were true, would be a major problem on its own. In what sense is 2 years of military service or "community service" strictly better for society than going to school, or working as a waiter, or starting a small business?

Re: Palantir Wants to Reinstate the Draft

#90

Post by whatshisface » Mon, Apr 20, 2026, 5:19 PM UTC

_doctor_love wrote: post #65

chromacity wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Generally speaking I am a fan of the idea that everyone should be required to do some kind of community service for 2 years once they turn 18. Why? I get the warm-and-fuzzy angle of "instilling civic responsibility", but you're effectively instilling that at gunpoint: the government forces you to do this, else you go to prison. Is that really such an enlightened thing to do? It takes away two years of your life, po…

> why should they also be able to draft you for some free labor if there's no war or other emergency going on? You can only prepare for a fire before it starts.

In the conventional view, the earliest preparations for war involve building a strong industrial base, reducing corruption, and securing alliances through cooperative foreign policy. The near-term preparations for war include diverting a fraction of total resources away from compounding growth and towards non-compounding defense manufacturing. A draft is something you do after the war starts.

The strategic idea is to remain in a pose of compounding growth as long as possible by avoiding war and war preparations until they're known to be absolutely necessary. Peacetime investments like scientific research build on themselves, while military spending sits in a depot until it's obsolete and then costs even more to safely dispose. The same goes for replacing the first two years of professional school with standing around in a big shed.