Discussion How to feel about draft/conscription for women?
Discussion How to feel about draft/conscription for women?
Mar 22 2025, 11:43 AM
(Mar 22 2025, 6:56 AM)YesYourNigel Shouldn't the people be allowed to make that decision, though? Instead of the country itself. If people truly don't want to be put through that, wouldn't they volunteer on their own? Or is that libertarian thinking?I guess my concern is that countries who do have a draft will then dominate countries without a draft. In an ideal world we'd have no draft, but in the real world many countries do have a draft so they will dominate countries that don't have a draft. I feel the same way about nuclear weapons (as someone from a country with no nukes). In an ideal world no country would have nukes because nukes are obviously horrible. But in the real world some countries do have nukes so they end up dominating countries that don't have nukes.
I used to be a lot more pacifist and anti-military but Trump being insane has made me do a 180 lol. America has conscription, nukes, and heavy military spending so countries that don't want to be bulldozed by America probably need the same as a deterrent.
Edit to add after thinking about it a bit more:
I also think the "choice" to face an invading force isn't really a choice at all. Fleeing the country takes money+resources. Being a refugee can be almost as miserable as staying in your home country, so most of the men successfully fleeing will be men with enough money and skills to get regular citizenship or men who are lucky enough to have dual citizenship in a peaceful country.
So I think "choosing" to opt out of a war is almost a luxury, because lower class men are stuck in the warzone whether they choose to be or not. And if they're stuck in the warzone, they're in the war whether they're conscripted or not. And you'd see the same issues with class where even among men who stay in the country, men who are lower class will be stuck in the more dangerous zones while men with money+resources can relocate further away from the frontlines. Conscription would ideally be done equally across class lines, so middle-upper class men would be as impacted as lower class men.
Edited Mar 22 2025, 12:17 PM by Possum.
Edit Reason: additional point
(Mar 22 2025, 6:56 AM)YesYourNigel Shouldn't the people be allowed to make that decision, though? Instead of the country itself. If people truly don't want to be put through that, wouldn't they volunteer on their own? Or is that libertarian thinking?I guess my concern is that countries who do have a draft will then dominate countries without a draft. In an ideal world we'd have no draft, but in the real world many countries do have a draft so they will dominate countries that don't have a draft. I feel the same way about nuclear weapons (as someone from a country with no nukes). In an ideal world no country would have nukes because nukes are obviously horrible. But in the real world some countries do have nukes so they end up dominating countries that don't have nukes.
I used to be a lot more pacifist and anti-military but Trump being insane has made me do a 180 lol. America has conscription, nukes, and heavy military spending so countries that don't want to be bulldozed by America probably need the same as a deterrent.
Edit to add after thinking about it a bit more:
I also think the "choice" to face an invading force isn't really a choice at all. Fleeing the country takes money+resources. Being a refugee can be almost as miserable as staying in your home country, so most of the men successfully fleeing will be men with enough money and skills to get regular citizenship or men who are lucky enough to have dual citizenship in a peaceful country.
So I think "choosing" to opt out of a war is almost a luxury, because lower class men are stuck in the warzone whether they choose to be or not. And if they're stuck in the warzone, they're in the war whether they're conscripted or not. And you'd see the same issues with class where even among men who stay in the country, men who are lower class will be stuck in the more dangerous zones while men with money+resources can relocate further away from the frontlines. Conscription would ideally be done equally across class lines, so middle-upper class men would be as impacted as lower class men.
