I’m all for mandatory military training. Deployment is a separate issue.

I think military service in general is kind of important since you can actually get attacked (thanks to russia for making my point).

We had mandatory military service for men in germany and it was canceled. I sure hope it stays that way bc it isnt efficient to make kids who have better options waste their time on something they dont actually want to do. We have a professional military for that. AND if we had it, women of course must go too.

But besides that especially in countries known for their warcrimes and batshit crazy politics, like the US, I think its clear that mandatory military training would be a bad idea.

I don’t really have a solid stance on it. Case by case, country by country. But at least a country that has citizens that have gone through a little bit of service have people who are at least slightly more knowledgeable on how to defend themselves in case they need to rebel or defend themselves with a gun (so long as the people remember their training).

Works best for countries that have a primarily defensive military. You have a large population of resevists to draw on for an invasion, and unless there’s something wack going on with your government, there usually isn’t a problem of motivating draftees when your country was invaded.

Volunteer militaries tend to need propaganda to get people to join up, even in relative peacetime. That attracts a lot of people who like the idea of shooting people in other countries. Not everyone who joins up is like that, of course. Some are also in bad economic situations and have no other line of work, and some bow to family pressure. In any case, you’ll have an easier time convincing them to fight people abroad.

I think anyone who owns a car and lives in the suburbs or in a rural country area should have mandatory military service.

Compare Switzerland. Everyone after secondary school gets a year learning how to work as a team and practice interdependence.

Seems like it’s working really well for them, as they have more guns per capita and almost zero mass shootings. Maybe that’s the thing they’re doing right?

Personally I don’t have an issue with it as it’s the only chance I and other poor kids had for entering college.

Professional army.

Support and train a reserve army of those willing. Citizens that could support the country and other citizens in the case of an invasion. Some countries do that. I like to think of those.

Only if otherwise necessary general service. E.g. active invasion you can’t otherwise oppose, or you can’t establish a minimum reserve.

My opinion is fuck no.

In somw places it’s more necessary than others. I don’t think US would benefit from it, but here in Finland I’d rather keep it. I’d try to make civilian service more common choice than currently, though.

they were never deployed

You absolutely should not ever get deployed during mandatory service. That shit is not okay.

I am pro mandatory military service, but not as it is done.

Everyone must serve. No getting out of it, but one may delay service by a short period while deathly ill or pregnant.

The military must accommodate all and their families.

Service reoccures every 10 years for 1 year.

Senator, President, judge? Too bad.

Old? You will be accommodated and your experience valued.

About to die but out of delay? Please accept the best medical care possible. Also, your friends and family can visit.

Everyone benefits from strong defense, so everyone must contrubute.

I’d sooner go to prison

Fuck that noise.

I believe that mandatory military service is absurd. Nobody chose to be born in any nation or under the jurisdiction of any government. No one else should be be obligated to support or fight for the ideology or actions or even the right to exist of a government they have effectively been assigned to by complete chance. It completely ignores the right of individuals to have their own systems of belief about what is morally correct.

For example, I am largely in agreement with Buddhist philosophy and only support violence under strict circumstances. I was born and currently live in the United States, and I would gladly go to prison or be executed over directly or indirectly being responsible for the suffering of others at the request of my government. Everything my country stands for is antithetical to my very strongly held beliefs about what is right, and I would proudly label myself a traitor. I believe that if you can’t find enough volunteers to fight for a cause, then maybe that cause isn’t actually worth shedding blood over.

Hmmm. I could support mandatory service, but not necessarily military service. An army of conscripts isn’t a very good army; just look at Russia. OTOH, I think that, in general, a population that has some basic level of training so that they can be called up and quickly activated if the professional military needs more people isn’t a terrible idea. On the other other hand, I think that people being conscripted to do public works and service is a pretty solid idea.

That said, I’d be much, much more supportive of a system where no one had citizenship–and I mean no one–without doing four years of service for their country first, in whatever capacity they were needed and capable of serving, whether that’s some form of military service, or working in soup kitchens. E.g., unless you are willing to work for the country, you should not be able to vote -or- be elected, nor should you have absolute, unfettered free speech. IMO people need to be invested in some way in their country. Look at immigrants that have been naturalized; they’re often far more serious about their citizenship and their responsibilities as citizens than people that were born and raised here. IMO we should aspire to have all citizens be as committed as those that have been naturalized.

EDIT - to be clear, I support a population being actively engaged in the politics of their locality, state, and country. Too many people are disengaged from news and politics, and that’s a terrible thing.

As far as firearms training, my issue is that it’s often used as a way to deny rights. E.g., make training mandatory to get a permit, but make training expensive, inconvenient to get to, at times that conflict with work schedules, etc., in order to discourage people from exercising their right. If training was offered on-demand, was free, and you didn’t need to pass a test in order to be able to use your civil right, then sure. Like, the hunters’ safety classes? You have to take the class, but you don’t have to pass a test in order to be permitted to get a hunting license. (Or, you don’t in my state. I’ve taken the class; most of it is pretty basic if you are already familiar with guns.) Any system that uses testing to determine if you can exercise a civil right will inevitably end up functioning like literacy tests did for voting rights.

If a country gets away with not having a mandatory military service, then it sholdn’t have one. Forcing people (usually just men) to spend a substancial amount of time in something, they might have zero motivation to, is unjust.

That being said, I absolutely support the fact that we do have a conscription based army here in Finland. There simply is an existential imperative for an army that is wastly larger than what could be achieved with volunteers. Maybe an initial fighting force could be mustered, but we would have problems refreshing it throug years of heavy attritional combat. Like Ukraine could most likely never maintain a fighting force through volunteer only.

That being said there is an option of civilian service here in Finland. I hold no grudge against anyone choosing that option. I agree that the system is fundamentally injust. I just see no alternative.