Hahaha, and what makes you think that all that doesn't happen in the military, too?
I don't think I'm missing the bigger picture at all. I'm not alive to be someone's pawn. Both prison and in the army you will be a changed person when you go home, but with the army you may not even have a chance to go home. Why would I fight for a country that puts this restriction on me in the first place? Fighting should be choice, and choice only.
I agree with what you say but unfortunately we don't quite live in an idealistic world. Conscription is generally utilized as more of a last resort scheme to make up for a lack of numbers. I believe the main reason why the Government enforces such a harsh ultimatum with regards to conscription is to try and ensure they get a good amount of people added to the army. It's not ideal, no but what happens if people are given the true freedom of choice and the result is that not enough people are conscripted into the army? With lower numbers, there'll be a much higher chance of additional casualties, the country is more likely to out rightly lose the war and if the country gets invaded, there's the possibility that many many many more people - civilians - will get killed and/or raped etc. Ultimately, I believe a Government has the best interest in the majority of the people with regards to conscription rules.
A friend of mine died young, my grandfather suffered from mental illness from it, my great uncle was crippled for the rest of his life.
So sure, if all of you think it's just about going to camp and doing a few pushups then you can go and do that and I won't stop you. I know it's not just about that either, but like I said.. it should be choice. I've never been personally, but all I've ever known from war is seeing all the pain, suffering, rape, brutality, and nameless death.
Someone I know recently got married, and then her husband had to go for duty. They are putting their life on hold.. for what? Is it really for the lives for others? How? Maybe you believe that, but I don't. What exactly is he doing? I could understand if it's for a mission in Africa or something.. but it's not. It's routine ********.
The government doesn't care. Why do you think they cut corners in veteran hospitals? My ex's uncle had cancer (from fighting in vietnam) got transferred from one to a public hospital with better resources, and was getting better. As soon as he was, they shoved him back in the vet hospital. Where there weren't enough nurses and had to wait 2 hours for a simple glass of water. It's BS. They don't care. He ended up dying there over an infection that spread because there wasn't enough staff. Good job, America.
The Government operates on pretty tight budgets and we could argue that their money should be distributed more effectively. The Government cuts corners in some areas because they primarily need the money elsewhere, not because they don't care about the majority of the people. It's possible that they moved your ex's uncle back into the other hospital because someone else needed to take his spot and spaces / resources are limited. But yeah, waiting two hours for a glass of water is pretty ****ing ********, not gonna lie.
A good friend of mine's ex's brother changed his mind and didn't want to serve. But he was the breadwinner in the family. They threw him in jail anyways and the ex had to struggle to support his 2 younger brothers, putting school on hold to try and find work. Why is this penalty in place??? How can anyone say that the government care about its people???
I'm rambling now because I'm frustrated.
Sorry if I offended anyone who's in the army now, but all I've ever seen from it is the negativity that comes from being enlisted. I don't actually know anyone who has finished serving who didn't die, or hasn't suffered in some way. Please enlighten me if you have a good story that you've experienced personally, I actually NEED some good feedback for it, so please share.
It's a lot easier to see the negativity of things when they are far more blatant than any potential positive effects that conscription causes. This is why I claimed that you were missing the bigger picture because you hold the believe that the conscription process is completely bad, which is partially due to the misfortunes of your friends / family. You're (understandably) allowing your judgment to be skewered by these experiences, which can make you disregard / overlook some of the theoretical aspects of things.
TL;DR= I have my reasons for not wanting to ever join the army so don't patronize me and tell me I'm "missing the bigger picture" when I've had my fair share of seeing what the army can do to someone you love first-hand. Plus, forcing you to fight to keep themselves a "free" country sounds pretty contradictory to me. No thanks.
