After Qassem Soleimani’s assassination was announced, it didn’t take long for people to start speculating about nuclear warfare, World War lll and a new draft. There have been lots of jokes, but there is also a lot of genuine concern.

The problem is, whenever someone who isn’t a news anchor or a senator voices those concerns, they’re dismissed. And most people will admit that they aren’t experts in international conflict and Middle Eastern politics. 

But just because you aren’t planning on being a congressperson or you’re young enough to have been born after America started the war with Afghanistan, doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t pay attention, get informed and speak your mind. 

Mainly because it can affect you.

Currently, we seem to still be pretty far away from a draft, even if the jokes about it are kind of funny. The problem is, the military doesn’t need to implement an official draft for it to affect young people. In 2019, the Army reached its annual recruitment goal by September, and it was reportedly because of student debt. The government is seemingly using the high price of college to get people to join the military, which means that there is a government incentive to keep tuition unaffordable.

While talk of nuclear war at might have seemed like an overreaction at first, on Sunday Jan. 5 Iran announced their withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal, which put limitations on their amount of enriched uranium. 

Between 2001 and 2018, the U.S. spent an estimated $5.9 trillion on the conflicts in the Middle East. To enter another war could be costly, potentially adding to the national debt, raising taxes or preventing other government programs.

And these are only the national concerns. Ultimately, a war with Iran would hurt innocent civilians. Conflict in the Middle East has resulted in upheaval for the people that live there, and we should be concerned. It seems that no president has been able to get American troops out, and we should be worried that we’re brewing up a new conflict.

So you may not agree with all of these concerns, or you may believe that Soleimani’s assassination was necessary and worth the risks, but as the decade starts anew and we risk the possibility of repeating the last two decades of endless war overseas, stay informed. While it may seem worlds away, repercussions could become unavoidable.