France is doing something similar now.
Germany votes to bring in voluntary military service programme for 18-year-olds
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Re: Germany votes to bring in voluntary military service programme for 18-year-olds
#12[flagged]
Re: Germany votes to bring in voluntary military service programme for 18-year-olds
#13[flagged]
Can Germans elaborate on this? I have heard some stories but I don’t know the truth of them.
Re: Germany votes to bring in voluntary military service programme for 18-year-olds
#14Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why do they have to fill it in and return it just to say no? Could this be used against them at some time in the future? And why women instead can just ignore it? Usually HN is very wary of the consequences of the state collecting data about its citizens and restricting freedoms in small steps. Is it not the case now?
When push comes to shove, men and women aren't equal
No, to a bunch of neoliberal elite politicians, women aren't equal. And those same politicians won't ever serve, nor compulsed to serve, and/or will shield their families from serving unless they really want to.
But let's call it what it is: compulsed military service is slavery for the elite.
Re: Germany votes to bring in voluntary military service programme for 18-year-olds
#15[flagged]
> What I didn't see were any young Germans
Seems ~20% of the population are immigrants (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuremberg#Demographics), some of the people you saw are Germans and some of them are not, but I think the main confusing part is how you mix up how someone looks and what nationality they have. I think maybe you're trying to say "white" instead, but for some reason avoided using that word?
Re: Germany votes to bring in voluntary military service programme for 18-year-olds
#16The article is using "voluntary" in a very questionable fashion. > Germany's parliament, the Bundestag, has voted to introduce voluntary military service... > The form will be mandatory for men and voluntary for women. > The government says military service will be voluntary for as long as possible, but from July 2027, all 18-year-old men will have to take a medical exam to assess their fitness for possible military…
> The form will be mandatory for men and voluntary for women.
Re: Germany votes to bring in voluntary military service programme for 18-year-olds
#17> "We don't want to spend half a year of our lives locked up in barracks, being trained in drill and obedience and learning to kill," the organisers of the protests wrote in a statement posted on social media.
"War offers no prospects for the future and destroys our livelihoods."
Is the idea that it’s better for your livelihood to just start learning how speak Russian now?
Re: Germany votes to bring in voluntary military service programme for 18-year-olds
#18The article is using "voluntary" in a very questionable fashion. > Germany's parliament, the Bundestag, has voted to introduce voluntary military service... > The form will be mandatory for men and voluntary for women. > The government says military service will be voluntary for as long as possible, but from July 2027, all 18-year-old men will have to take a medical exam to assess their fitness for possible military…
Military service was only recently abolished in Germany. And compared to the old system, this one would qualify as voluntary for now. This might not remain that way, but that's probably an issue to discuss if and when that happens. There's all kinds of other challenges at that point, and I think at that point challenges based on fairness could be valid (as only some people are drafted, not everyone).
Re: Germany votes to bring in voluntary military service programme for 18-year-olds
#19“The change means that all 18-year-olds in Germany will be sent a questionnaire from January 2026 asking if they are interested and willing to join the armed forces. The form will be mandatory for men and voluntary for women.“ - all men have to fill out and return a form, I suppose this will work to increase recruitment. Doesn’t seem very controversial.
Eighteen year olds in the US have to fill out a “selective services” form. This was for the draft, and continues in case the draft is ever reinstated. So in peace time not problem, in wartime? Different story.
Re: Germany votes to bring in voluntary military service programme for 18-year-olds
#20[flagged]
For anyone wondering just over
84% of the German population is ethnically German, so the commenter above was probably spectacularly unlucky. They are right though in that it is an aging population with only around 13% under 16.