[nynx]

I'm a senior in university now, but it did really feel like this when I was in high-school. And it still feels like this in university, though I'm now much more capable of reasoning of whether it's true or if I just feel that it's true.

I think this is a consistent theme throughout the entirety of the United States. There's so little leeway. Fail a class -> you might have to go into an extra 20k of debt. Lose your job -> Homeless, foodless, insuranceless.

Something will eventually give.

[Animats]

Flunking out today doesn't mean being drafted into the Army. That may come back, especially in Europe. It's shaping up to be a long war.

[thr0wawayf00]

Flunking out wouldn't mean getting drafted into the army in the US anyway, the waiting list to join has been setting records for a few years now[0]

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/us-army-waiting-list-record-...

[Lammy]

It's even worse if you look at what types of recruits they target https://newrepublic.com/article/156131/military-views-poor-k... (https://archive.ph/9lYDQ) (2020)

> This week, Anthony Clark, an Air Force veteran and Democratic congressional candidate in Illinois, noted how deeply embedded this trend is in American military service, detailing how he, his brother, father, and grandfather were all drafted or enlisted because “poverty is the draft.”

[after_care]

Flunking out of college did mean getting drafted during the Vietnam and Korea wars.

[thr0wawayf00]

...which were 50+ years ago. Much of the world was very different back then.

[earleybird]

In some ways the world is very much the same; just more of it.

[Animats]

(2010)

[oneoff786]

I don’t see any evidence it’s shaping up to be a long war. Russia has effectively abandoned their western front. They’re focusing on the east and somewhat the south.

The Russian army’s performance has been pathetic and wouldn’t last long at all vs. nato. Nukes are a thing, but not a long war thing.

[supramouse]

they likely achieve their goals though, taking the east and crippling the country to a point it's not extremely relevant

there's the whole 'western unity' thing but it won't last very long and doesn't severely change the equation

[magicalist]

> they likely achieve their goals though

Ah yes, massive equipment and personnel losses, reminding the world that Putin is a flagrant liar, spurring movement off national gas, and making clear exactly how formidable the Russian military isn't. All while not actually taking strategic points in the east one month in.

Really nailed it.

[Mikeb85]

Unfortunately Russia can just launch rockets and shells from within their own borders and completely level Ukrainian cities... Even if they lose most of their army they still can 'win' by using tactics no other nation would deem acceptable. And that's likely what they'll do as long as they feel the west won't directly intervene.

[pjc50]

The Ukranians can fire back? Such as at Belgorod? Besides, even rocket artillery range is only about 30km. Kyiv is now out of range of everything except airstrikes, and Russian air power is of limited effectiveness as they never achieved air superiority.

It is quite possible the Ukranians will retake everything taken in the recent offensive. The question is then whether they will also attempt to retake Donetsk, Luhansk, and Crimea.

It probably will be a long war if they do.

[supercanuck]

This isn't true. There is evidence they are regrouping and the approval rating of Putin in Russia is increasing.

[oneoff786]

There is no evidence they are regrouping. There is strong evidence of vehicles being trained back out of Ukraine via Belorussian rail. To attack kyiv again would be starting from scratch.

Putin’s approval rating is irrelevant.

Russia has managed to lose the battle of kyiv, and among other blundering failures, has repeatedly failed to establish air superiority. The extent to which they would be utterly slaughtered given actual western air support is hard to exaggerate.

At least to the extent of arbitrary Europeans needing to worry about a draft.

[JaimeThompson]

>the approval rating of Putin in Russia is increasing

If you lived in Russia would you give an honest answer to those running the polls not knowing if they would report you to the government?

[earleybird]

Lol, in Canada it will soon be illegal to give an honest opinion of our own government.

[ZhangSWEFAANG]

There are homeless shelters and food stamps.

[JaimeThompson]

You haven't every been poor in the US have you? If you had then you would know that those services aren't the best and border on the useless.

[giraffe_lady]

you know those two are mostly incompatible? snap won't get you ready to eat food and homeless shelters won't give you access to a kitchen.

just as like, a small minor indicator of how poorly you understand these systems and how cruel suggesting this is in that context.