Military conscription

I don't think that would be a factor in this scenario-all that would be out of the window.

Unless you were actually a candidate for what used to be called the horrible name of "lunatic asylums", other mental disabilities wouldn't make a penny worth of difference when it came to conscription.

Anyone who thinks they could "develop" -I presume by this , you mean "pretend to have" - anxiety, PDA, ADHD, etc is really living in a fool's paradise because it won't protect anyone, even genuine cases.

Pursuing that theme, I shared with a guy from Nigeria in my first year at Uni. On his return (he was in his last year) he was going to have to do his "national service" for a year (if I recall correctly).

He was such a gentle chap I joked about him having to handle a gun. However it turned out that "national service" in that time and place meant that people who had studied and gained qualifications (whether at home or abroad) had to go and work for the government for a year to help repay their tuition.

Because he had studied mechanical engineering, he was lined up to work in setting up factories.

I often thought that would be a worthwhile idea in the UK. Especially as I marched and sat in against tuition fees.

Genuinely - thank you for everything you do for us. I support our troops.

While I do think things have got worse for the working (and middle) classes, I’m not sure where or when this ‘stomping out’ of national identity has happened. Or where the rights and safety of people has become secondary - we’ve just ahd a big new workers’ rights Bill, for eg. I mean, Farage would get rid of it all, so he’s a worry, but he’s not in charge.

Have amended question in order to be clear. I really want to know @EasternStandard 's stance.

That's what they want you to think. You know, the secret cabal who want a war and 3 generations of compliance. They told me to tell you.

Not all conscription is military .

You really wouldn’t, if people ask others to be fodder they can too. It’s really that grim.

But your reply is a no though, and yes for others?

Are you against military conscription full stop? No exceptions?

They don't consider the plebs to have any brains, let alone be entitled to any opinions or be able to make choices.

If I signed up, it would only help the enemy,

An interesting point, now let's try and update it for today's world.

Lets say an authoritarian regime like Russia wishes to take over say Germany or the UK - either militarily or by the grey zone.

Who would this impact the most and who would be most willing to join up?

So it would affect most those who wished to protest or go against the authoritarian regime- so I'm thinking academics, those with liberal / progressive / left views etc.

Who it would least affect - that would be people who would be happy to carry on with their lives , manual occupations, keep their heads down, right wing views that don't want to make too much fuss about protesters being sent off to penal colonies etc.

So who would be most willing to join up. That would be those who are more patriotic, proud of their country, might have a St George's flag hanging up and most likely more right wing and dislike the "liberal woke types"

Who would be the least likely to sign up- those that aren't patriotic or proud of their country, view anyone flying a St George's flag as racist and are most likely left wing / liberal views and dislike the "right wing fascist types"

So that begs the question why would the patriotic right wing group want to sign up to defend and risk their lives in order when they would be least affected just to protect the left wing woke types (that they dislike) and who would be most affected and least likely to sign up and risk their lives.

That could be sidestepped with new legislation, as was done before (National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939).

I wonder if people were making the same agonising decisions in 1940 as the bombs were falling. Oh, hang on, I don't need to wonder. I can remember my grandparents telling me stories.

I’m not sure what use a menopausal 50-year-old woman would be, but I’d sign up tomorrow if we were under threat of being invaded by a power which was in conflict with our own country’s values. There’s a lot wrong with this country at the moment but it remains one of the best places in the world to live with a way of life worth fighting to protect IMO.

As I’ve got older and more critical of ‘the state’ and its branches of power, yes I have concerns about those branches (whether military, police or even state education) being used to advance the personal ideologies of powerful men (and it is usually men) and would worry about unwittingly being used as a pawn in that power play. However, being invaded by a hostile state is different IMO.

So you’d sign up?

I don’t mind if people say they will before others are asked to. To the frontline that is.

The two world wars put rockets under womens emancipation and sufferage.

Sadly, like all things that go up, they have to come down. Maybe another war is just the ticket ?

And it’s likely they would conscript cyber security specialists first as cutting off water supplies and access to money is more likely to happen than armed conflict.

Obviously not.

But I think the establishment needs to wake up. You can't stomp out national identity, make citizens feel that their rights and saftey are secondary considerations to political agendas, and then expect those people to lay down their lives for the country that betrayed them.

People will not fight to uphold this current system, because it isn't worth dying for.

So ?

The law is only what parliament says it is. And that can be changed

Me too. I'm mid a 50s female and reasonably healthy. While obviously not as agile as I used to be I'd still do what I could to defend my home/country/family/way of life etc.

I'm surprised so many on this thread apparently wouldn't.

Could you provide some links?

It would also be subject to a mountain of legal challenges.

We are already in conflict with Russia.

And you think life under Putin would be a bed of roses ?