At a wage rate set by the government.
Even though that means a large wage cut from what they were making in private employment.
They must work at a site chosen by the government.
In unsafe conditions, where their life and health are at risk.
Where they will be forcibly separated from family, spouses, children, friends, and loved ones.
Where refusing to take the government job is likely to result in imprisonment, and quitting the job can potentially be a capital offense.
Sure sounds like a page out of Karl Marx, doesn't it? Something Soviet Russia or North Korea would do?
We're now hearing rumbles proposing to reinstate military conscription. Re-enlistment is down, not only in the regular Army but in Reserve units as well. All this at a time when we need more force in Iraq. A number of leaders believe a draft is the only way to accomplish this.
Imagine that you work for Podunk Widgetworks. To fill orders, you need to employ 1,500 widgetmakers - and to meet budget, you need to pay them no more than $10/hour. Problem is, Acme Widgetcorp is paying widgetmakers $15/hour, and there just aren't enough widgetmakers to go around. It's simply impossible to hire 1,500 widgetmakers at $10/hour.
You have a problem. So...
You go to your Congressman. You get him to push through a bill. This bill orders all widgetmakers to report to the nearest Job Service office. The 1,500 best widgetmakers are ordered to go to your plant and start making widgets for $10/hour. Those who refuse are sent to prison.
Uh, yeah, right...
Now in a free market... the answer is simple. Either you learn to compete with Acme by paying more than $10/hour; or, you find a way to make do with fewer than 1,500 widgetmakers.
We've got a government swarming with "the free market is always right" conservatives: surely they can understand, that if the Army isn't seeing enough voluntary enlistment, maybe they aren't paying enough?
"Oh, but if we increased military pay, we'd have to increase taxes!" Duh...
(Oh, I forgot... what the American Way really is... find some way to force someone else to pay for what you want...)
Anyone between the ages of 18 and 65, of either gender, and whether able-bodied or not, should be eligible to be conscripted. The only exemption would be for those who've already served.
We'd take enough of everybody to provide the armed forces with enough able-bodied young people to meet military requirements. The rest would be offered to the military for non-combat needs. (running mess halls, repairing Humvees, operating the Quartermaster Corps, etc.) Those the military doesn't need would be transferred to public-works camps and used to maintain public infrastructure.
Yes, it would be unbelievably destructive to the Jones Family for Jeff Jones to lose his $60,000 income for two years while he serves meals as a 45-year-old Army private. Is 18-year-old John Doe's life (and those of his friends and family) less valuable?