The major difference between the Vietnam war and now is that we have an all-voluntary military. They are given inducements to sign up, along with their families. For some, it is the benefits, others, a need to belong and do something, and then there are the contractors. Vietnam had many volunteers, children of the Cold War, believing in the Domino Theory, which was false. The corporate interests in the Vietnam and the wars since then, have become more and more obvious. But in the Vietnam era as you say, there was a large pool to pick from.
The thing that made it different than the present in my mind, at least, was the draft. Many did want to go, and they were taken before they could even vote, as we did not get the voting age down to 18 until 1971 near the end of the war. So they were not willing draftees, were threatened with imprisonment and were shipped off to whatever fate awaited, counting on the brotherhood of their fellows to survive. Many did not, either dying or being maimed, or not recovering from what they were ordered to do and be a part of.
Politically, I see the disconnection between war making and the public as being a function of not having a draft. In the Vietnam era, every young man knew that he was liable to be ripped from his civilian life and possibly slaughtered for the purposes of those running the government. It made the war the constant topic and concern of them and those who cared about them. The young people demanded a say. History will show if their having a say, made a difference. The rich likely figured the purposes of the war had been accomplished, as they weighed the domestic atmosphere approaching open rebellion with people being killed on all sides at home, with their profits. It is said that they decided to end the war and not us the little people. With 911 the wars have been reduced by Obama and that is cutting down the profits, but not altogether.
Where do we fit into all of this, since you are asking questions, just as many of us do. The American public now is composed of many people who have joined the military voluntarily and expect all the same perks as those who had everything to lose and no say so, after having been abused or rewarded, depending on who you ask about it, for something they volunteered to do.
I see them differently than those in the past who were almost literally, dragged kicking and screaming against being sent to war. For whom it was all or nothing, now it is seen as way to get an education, health care and benefits not available to others. Why do I say this?
Because those I know involved tell me so, they consider themselves above average Americans who have not been in the service. They demand to be given these things, and our respect, while schools and infrastructure and health care and housing for those not joining are lacking. The difference is that in Vietnam, going to war was going to happen and not by the wishes of many who were drafted, not enlisted. I know many who enlisted because of the lottery numbers they had, knowing the draft would be picking them up if they didn't. They wanted to get into whatever branches they thought were going to be less likely to get them maimed or killed. But it was thing that the young men faced that women did not face, and one had to face giving up everything as a civilian for not going, or giving up everything as a soldier.
Right now we have had an economic model and a lot of propaganda applied to young men and women that was not happening during the Vietnam era. Being in the service is now normalized, as a career choice with special sentimental meanings for most people. Back then, it was a possible death sentence and wars were traditionally considered a necessary evil. Now they're an optional thing, and so is the service. Maybe.
May have taken a long walkabout from your thread, but if you were only speaking of population, I'd say that the abundance of fodder for the fire didn't seem to be the purpose of the Vietnam war, just profit. I had an uncle who came from Sweden to America around the time of WW1 because he said, they were drafting men to go to war and they knew already, they were royalty's pawns. That they traditionally gained nothing from the wars but coming back in one piece. That is the brutality of life for many people of the world, no matter how you sliced it . He was a merchant marine, so in a way already in the war and told me some very interesting stories about it that are not in the books given to us. The mood between for example, the Germans and those they captured at sea was different than the picture handed down about WW2. He said they were all mates, they weren't hateful. It was just what they'd been forced into doing.
As far as that royalty, I remember reading accounts of how the rich and powerful in the many wars in Europe would have picnics on the high views above the fields of battle. They were served their meals while the men killed each other below. Sort of like the sky boxes above a football field, enjoying yourselves while the men below ram into each other's heads and shoulders, valiantly trying to win a point, score a touch down, intercept a pass from the opposing team, and watch the little people and their emotional response below them.
Key words, below them, which may be part of what you were getting out. Population reduction of too plentiful caterpillars in the dust, for entertainment and profit. I do not possess any fantasies about the righteousness of going to war, and although my family members in the past served in our country's wars, and also for the nobles of Britain for centuries before that and got their rewards, they told me there was no reward in the long run. They had awoken from the dream, the spell, stopped listening to the hocus pocus of religion and royals. If we don't as a people stop listening and giving credence to those who sell us on wars, and that's what virtually every institution in this country does, in one way or another, sells that mind set, we've devalued our lives and those of others and will be handled as cattle. I don't know if that is anything like where you were going, but that's the kind of questions you thread made me ask myself.
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