[News] Should we Bring Back National Service?

[Whitechapel]

There’s more than one poll option here

There are a number of poll options here and playing devils advocate:

Wouldn’t be a very good poll if there was only one option IMO.

Although admittedly this poll does only need one option - No.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Voluntary service already in existence National Coastwatch Institution - assisting the Coastguard.
There's one at Newhaven Fort. It's watchkeeping so who is going to volunteer to stay up all night watching the Channel. Hands Up.
newhaven@nci.org.uk

St John Ambulance
Red Cross
CareforCalais
NHS (300 voluntary roles) https://volunteering.england.nhs.uk/volunteer
National Trust
etc etc etc

 

[Hamilton]

If we could make it financially viable and compelling enough for young people then I’d support a voluntary scheme. But would it just be a white elephant that costs a fortune?

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Yes. It should be compulsory. If there is a war, it is the job of the younger generation who are more able-bodied to defend our land. There can be no objections. I know the soy latte generation find the concept of self-sacrifice completely alien but it is a pertinent one. Remember the reason we are typing these words in English today is because of the brave heroes in the 1940s.

Oh dear, directly from the Daily Mail! Don't drink soy milk because it makes you gay, and latte isn't real coffee.

Btw, the countries that were occupied by the Germans in 1940 were not forced to abandon their languages which is why French. Dutch, Flemish, Greek, Polish, etc etc is still being spoken today.

Do try harder.

 

[Comrade Sam]

Read A Legacy of Violence - A History of the British Empire, by Caroline Elkins. We cannot be trusted with a large army and 171 of the worlds 193 countries mostly have unpleasant tales of our military attention (WW2 aside).
I'm not sure war loving numties like Sunak and Starmer should be given the option either.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Read A Legacy of Violence - A History of the British Empire, by Caroline Elkins. We cannot be trusted with a large army and 171 of the worlds 193 countries mostly have unpleasant tales of our military attention (WW2 aside).
I'm not sure war loving numties like Sunak and Starmer should be given the option either.

*numpties

 

[A1X]

If we could make it financially viable and compelling enough for young people then I’d support a voluntary scheme. But would it just be a white elephant that costs a fortune?

Ah but you’re forgetting, there might not be sufficient money for the NHS or the like, but there’s always cash on tap for mad schemes which would please the Daily Mail.

 

[Comrade Sam]

*numpties

Thank you!

 

[Blue3]

As a Voluntary option then I can see some benefits it would give teenagers the opportunity to grow away from home and to experience military life if it also provide some life training to give youngsters a leg up towards a job and it’s attendance was viewed positively by employers then it could be of benefit to all.
If they found it was not for them then after a year they can return home or just don’t sign up for it in the first place

 

[abc]

No - people should be free to do what they want with their lives

I sort of agree with you and I would be totally against national service etc but this mantra is arguably a contributory factor to why we are in our current moribund state. Society has become more and more fractured because too many people believe that they can do 'whatever they want' without personal responsibility or responsibility to others and society in general.

 

[MattBackHome]

Volunteer opportunities, rights and expenses

Find volunteering opportunities, and volunteer rights, pay, expenses, age limits, criminal record checks.

www.gov.uk

If anyone is that desperate for voluntary civic volunteering community volunteering service they can already fill their boots so this poll makes zero sense.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

As I’ve often said, talk to people who have actually done it and any idea that it’s some magic cure-all to instill some much needed discipline etc soon fades. Unsurprisingly.

My old man did it: chatted up the birds, hung around having tremendous fun playing music and drinking beer in pubs in Germany. My German cousin did it: every photo he has of those days is him and his fellow conscripts roaring drunk, clowning around at what they referred to as the “federal drinking academy”. Maybe not quite what Daily Mail readers/Tories have in mind.

Yeah, pretty much the same I've been told by the Italian I work with.

He has lots of stories, none of which are army related unless it's taking the piss out of officers

 

[Comrade Sam]

We're in this state because our ruling class are so fecking greedy that there's nothing left. Why would we then grant them billions to stick all the young men they've neglected in an army. Dicks like Lee Anderson would then use them to invade London, round up Trans people and use small boats as target practice. How about paying national service age folks to build houses, work for the NHS, help in schools, let them go to university - it would be cheaper.

 

[Comrade Sam]

Why do people need to learn discipline? It's not like we're run by a bunch of self discipline masters.
I think I'll walk away from this thread as it appears I've fallen for Daily Mail click bate.

 

[JamieR]

Not sure the message of 'fighting for your country' is going to work these days. My teenage boys aren't particularly patriotic and have a more global mindset when it comes to career / life opportunities. First sign of forced conscription they are off... and I'll take them to the airport.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

It’d be hard to take seriously any Government seeking to conscript a citizen soldiery which has simultaneously failed to take action to take key industries back from privatisation and usually into foreign ownership (railways, steel manufacture, weapons development, communications networks).

You can’t cosplay as Churchill with conscription without also rolling back Thatcherism.

I'm not sure many people will think "nah, im not going to fight putin because of the trains"

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

Absolutely not. Some people make horrible soldiers, conscript armies generally are just cannon fodder.

Fund the existing forces better and bring back a pride in service instead.

This is one of the rare occasions trump is right when he says NATO counties need to start paying what they have signed up to.

There is no excuse for countries not to spend the required amount currently to try and keep Europe safe.

 

[A1X]

I'm not sure many people will think "nah, im not going to fight putin because of the trains"

It’s not about the willingness to fight, it’s about the ability to provide them with gear to fight with. Try making tanks with no steel. Try transporting large quantities of ammunition from Scotland to Southampton quickly without trains.

 

[Coldeanseagull]

A voluntary year...between 16-18 years old. I don't mean the type of basic training a lot of us went through whilst serving in the armed forces, but a scheme which could help the youngsters integrate better into adulthood. At that age, they would be exempt from active duty, so their mummies and daddies wouldn't have to worry about their little darlings being blown up

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

It’s not about the willingness to fight, it’s about the ability to provide them with gear to fight with. Try making tanks with no steel. Try transporting large quantities of ammunition from Scotland to Southampton quickly without trains.

I'm assuming The Government of the day would take control of those areas if we went to war.

No one in the West is set up for a war, which is a good thing and also quite scary