The Vietnam war, was probably the last American war that drew an ever increasing vociferous and vocal response by the general public, as well as some serious violent protests, that often consisted of large swaths of people, so protesting, together, that typically would not see eye-to-eye on a lot of other political issues, but on this issue, they were in one accord. A significant reason why so many were so uneasy about the Vietnam war, really came down to the fact that conscription was not something that a lot of Americans who were now experiencing a good version of the American dream, would wish upon their male children, and thereby they were upset that their sons were eligible to be drafted, and hence the real possibility of them being hurt or dying in some far-off land for some nebulous reason seemed wrong. Sure, there were all sorts of workarounds to avoid being drafted, but these were at best, an imperfect means to avoid such, and at worse, not something that all people, given their present circumstances, could successfully avail themselves of.
It is true that the military was at first, taken aback, at the lack of patriotism demonstrated by what would typically be considered to be law abiding citizens; especially since the military brass were of the mind, that a draft, was necessary in order to have enough personnel to take care of wars so needing to be fought at the present time, but they also took into consideration, that such would be needed in order to fight wars in the future. Nevertheless, after a period of some time and reflection, the top military brass, believed that it was indeed possible, for the United States, to no longer require conscription, and yet still be able to successfully protect and defend America, as well as to make war upon foreign nations, when necessary, with an all-volunteer force.
Somewhat surprisingly, since 1973, no matter what has subsequently occurred, throughout the world, the United States has not brought back conscription, and has indeed, relied exclusively upon the recruitment of an all-volunteer force. The secret for why this has so occurred, has an awful lot to do with the fact that in America, there are millions of people that live in ghettos of hopelessness and despair, and therefore, are ripe for buying into the opportunity that will provide them with the accouterments of good healthcare, shelter, employment, as well as the furthering of their education, all in return for their risking their life, if so necessary, on behalf of that country that so employs them.
In other words, those that are young and without bright or promising prospects, as well as those that are not citizens of this country but desire to become such, see their volunteering into the military as basically being their best choice, giving their dearth of good choices, so available to them. That is to say, having a lot of disenfranchised people with poor prospects, makes for a very convenient pool of eligible people, for the military branches to recruit people from, and of which, in fairness, being in the military could well be of real benefit for those so recruited. This signifies, that things are pretty much back to the status quo, which is war, is typically a poor man’s fight, and as long as the United States has plenty of poor people, it will remain exactly that way.