Germany plans to reintroduce conscription, albeit on a limited and temporary scale. I think that this has more to do with
the threat of a resurgent Russia than with the influx of refugees.
Germany plans to reintroduce conscription, albeit on a limited and temporary scale. I think that this has more to do with
the threat of a resurgent Russia than with the influx of refugees.
Last edited by Kyle Reese; 08-23-2016 at 03:16 PM.
Interesting. Saw something yesterday about their government urging citizens to stockpile like 10 days worth of food and water.
How ironic would it be if all the military aged Muslim male "refugees" were conscripted to fight the Russians?
They'll probably get plenty of young middle eastern men as recruits.
Conscription is such an ugly word for what is otherwise a viable and important aspect of national preservation.
We should have mandatory military or civil service for all citizens and permanent residents from ages 18-20. And no "higher education" exception either. Religious objections to military service? You're now a garbage man. Objections to being a garbage man? You now dig ditches next to the highway. Don't want to work a shovel? Pick up trash. Don't want to do that? Get the fuck out.
Three years of service to your country in some capacity would go a long damn way to improving our social and cultural interactions. Not too mention the improvement of national infrastructure that is badly in need of it. It would help, considerably, I think, if we used the young to actually improve the country. The problem with "more education" in general is the false promise of it. I remember my dad telling my distinctly when I was about 12 or 13 years old, "Just remember son. The world needs more ditch diggers, garbage men, and cooks, than it needs politicians, generals, or CEOs." - Not everyone gets to have a great job or even great life, which is one thing that service teaches you quickly. You either want to better yourself and be a general or CEO or you're a ditch digger. And there is no point in sending ditch diggers off to college; when they can dig ditches that we need dug during the same time.
Last edited by RevolverRob; 08-23-2016 at 04:01 PM.
I think it may have been the plan all along. Something about birth rates and economic stability. Building an army may be a tangential benefit.Originally Posted by HCM
I was in the Army during the transition to all-volunteer service and I have to say that most of the draftees did not instill a lot of confidence. Some were great but most didn't want to be there, did as little as they possibly could and took delight in showing their resentment in any way they could that wouldn't get them in too much trouble.
The draft supposedly worked well in WW II, but my father commanded a landing craft in the Pacific and he said the difference between the Marine troops he landed (still overwhelming volunteers at the time) and the Army infantry (almost completely draftees) was instantly noticeable. He said the same distinction tended to be true for the Navy volunteers and draftees.
What we need is a culture in which young people grow up believing in their country and believing that they owe it service if it is to continue to survive. But given that many schools now teach how bad the US is, I think that it is unlikely we will see such a culture in our lifetimes.
I think mandatory civilian service would have similar problems.
I am with Jeep - we need to keep a professional volunteer Military. Last time I spoke to one of our recruiters, only about 3 out of 10 Americans in the typical recruit age range (I assume 18 to 25) could meet the entry requirements - lack of a high school diploma is a big issue, obesity is another, followed by asthma and felony convictions.
We should probably attack Russia.
That seems like a good idea.
When you ask someone to risk their life for a cause, they probably ought to believe in it. When the nation's politics become so extremely far left that the cause you ask people to fight for doesn't resemble anything they actually either don't want to see continued or would like to see eradicated, well...maybe we can get the LBGT, diversity for the sake of diversity proponents, illegal immigrants, and other leftists to handle the next one. We just might be losing the interest of the usual go to types. 1-2% of pop is serving at any given time and only 25% or so of the eligible population can pass the current requisite background, physical, mental, and other requirements. Now those are stats from before I retired, so they may have changed a bit. An article from 2014 shows similar figures (http://time.com/2938158/youth-fail-t...itary-service/). But maybe we can just conscript and hope that instead of fighting for country they'll just try to keep each other alive and the others can watch from the sidelines. Sort of like how we force the productive class to pay for "entitlements" for chronically, habitually, and generationally unemployed. Both good solid policies. What could possibly go wrong?
Last edited by Willard; 08-25-2016 at 12:23 AM.
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