51–60 of 89 posts
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What if people do but not in enough numbers? Farewell, sweet country!
If the country doesn't have enough people to defend it, perhaps it's good and just that some other community gets to control the territory? A country isn't really anything except for its people, after all.
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In peacetimes, yes, but if it's defensive war I don't see many arguments against a draft, it can't be generalized though.
That explains the Joey's ocarina in the movie Stalag 17 .
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> It is called forced labour or slavery. In war, people who tolerate military conscription and discipline will conquer those who're slaves to pigheaded "you're not the boss of ME!" individualism. It'd be nice if humans would voluntarily abandon war someday. But a corollary of the First Commandment is to face facts.
> In war, people who tolerate military conscription and discipline will conquer those who're slaves to pigheaded "you're not the boss of ME!" individualism. Sure, right up until it leads to fragging. During the Vietnam War about a thousand superiors were killed by their subjects. You can't give someone weapons, try to force them into a suicidal mission, and not expect them to use it to stop the mission. Give someone…
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In peacetimes, yes, but if it's defensive war I don't see many arguments against a draft, it can't be generalized though.
If there's anything worth defending, people will volunteer to defend it.
That's a pretty binary view of the situation. It's not enough for something to be worth defending: People have to recognize that it's worth defending — and that might not happen instantaneously, because "people" come to appreciate things at very different rates.
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If the country doesn't have enough people to defend it, perhaps it's good and just that some other community gets to control the territory? A country isn't really anything except for its people, after all.
The occupying power may be interested in your country's resources rather than its people.
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The occupying power may be interested in your country's resources rather than its people.
How does that change matters? If anything that makes it even worse. If not enough of your people can't be bothered to join the military even when an enemy army is invading, perhaps the country in question should draw the conclusion it's not viable as an independent nation.
Carter? "Yes sir?" What is it, Carter? "An ocarina, sir" Bring it up here! I've had a really nice, small "English four-hole" unglazed terracotta pendant ocarina since I was a kid. They are actually really fun to play and very visceral, in a sense; the way you can get a chromatic scale from only four hole sizes combinatorially is intellectually satisfying and weirdly easy to learn. It came with some sheet music that s…
I understand the intellectual satisfaction you're talking about. Now I'm wondering if we can push the minimalism to using these four holes with only two fingers. It seems doable from the diagram you link, using link fingers, and assuming half holes can be covered from the left side, and two holes can be covered with one finger at the same time. Would that work, or does the physicality of the instrument prevent that ?
Sadly with English Vessel Flutes (4/6/8 holes) the holes need to all be roughly equidistant from the center of the chamber, which makes a two finger setup ergonomically complicated while keeping a tangential fipple. It is also very desirable to use the pads of the fingers to cover the holes, making a good air seal is tricky with the middle of the finger. On ergonomics, it is also worth mentioning some Ocs get quite big as well! My largest 6 hole is almost 300mm wide, my fingers are not quite long enough to span this...
Interesting that they don't seem to have had much cultural impact. I've never heard of these, never seen them in war films. You don't hear songs wistfully using a wartime ocarina or referring to them.
Does this explain why all the kids in the States got recorders after the war? It's still a thing in 4th grade for most kids in public school.
https://duckduckgo.com/q=recorder+instrument+nazi
https://www.thestar.com.my/news/true-or-not/2025/02/19/quick...