Prompted by another thread about conscription in Ukraine.
Since no one has mentioned it, I think the draft is okay if it allows for conscientious objection. Realistically, most people aren’t against the draft because they’re against killing, they’re against dying (which is fair). The thing is, almost no one wants to die, and sometimes war is inevitable (or at least out of your hands). So if people are against killing, that shouldn’t be a problem. There are plenty of positions on the front lines, in forward positions, and in secure positions that need to be fulfilled where killing is neither necessary nor likely. So let them be cooks, clerks, maintenance, medics, etc.
Of course, conscripting should be fair and logistically beneficial for the country, like others mentioned. Sending teachers to war does more harm to the next generation than it helps the current one, for instance, and if you’re at the point where even the teachers are needed you’re looking at taking generations to recover even if your country survives.
When everyone is being drafted. Including the children of the oligarchs and political class.
Otherwise it’s never right. It’s just feeding the poor to the war machine.
Rich people are humans too and also have rights.
Subjecting rich people to the same violations of their rights doesn’t make the thing okay.
I didn’t see it yet, so I’ll say in a humanitarian crisis.
None.
I think that the exact measure of whether or not a war is justified is whether or not people are willing to fight it.
It’s very rare for a war to be a direct threat to the people. That’s generally only the case in a situation like Gaza, in which the invaders explicitly intend to not only take control of the land, but to kill or drive off the current inhabitants.
As a general rule, the goal is simply to assume control over the government, as is the case in Ukraine.
So the war is generally not fought to protect and/or serve the interests of the people directly, but to protect and/or serve the interests of the ruling class. And rather obviously, the ruling class has a vested interest in the people fighting to protect them and/or serve their interests. But the thing is that the people do not necessarily share that interest.
And that, IMO, is exactly why conscription is always wrong. If the people do not feel a need to protect and/or serve the interests of the rulers, then that’s just the way it is. That choice rightly belongs to the people - not to the rulers.
As a general rule, the goal is simply to assume control over the government, as is the case in Ukraine.
Yeah no, that’s just plain wrong. Russia, at the very least, is committing cultural genocide if not much worse. Ukrainian families get broken up so their kids can be better indoctrinated.
I used to be against the draft or conscription, but someone made the argument that people are far less war hungry when they or their loved ones might end up on the front lines. In that case, I’m all for it as long as the rich, politically connected, and otherwise privileged are treated like the rest of us. Otherwise the next best option is an all volunteer military.
When you’re being invaded.
