We are being primed

[Mambo19866]

Story after story now of conscription being needed. I was thoroughly convinced that this is just scaremongering but the number of senior figures coming out again today warning us to prepare it really feels like they are getting us used to the idea. Also in the papers today the US is moving some of its nuclear stockpile to the UK. Getting bit nervous now I have to admit.

Forgetting young people, I'm in my thirties and whilst I think my heart is mainly in the right place, I am utterly thoroughly useless in comparison to my grandparents. Here is a list of things they could do that I can't and very few of my peers would have a hope at:

Grow food
Repair a bicycle
Repair a car
Repair home electrics
Carpentry
Foraging
See, knit, make, repair clothes
Start a fire
Preserve food
Navigate

I'm absolutely screwed in a war.

However, I suspect that this talk of conscription is generals empire-building.

I think that the dangers of conscripting all of our fighting age youth are too high - in the number of illegal immigrants which have flooded into this country. By allowing this we effectively have pulled a Trojan Horse through our gates. The vast majority are young Muslim men, and Islam is becoming increasingly violent. I know that not all Muslims are Islamists, but we have no idea who we have let into this country. We'd effectively be sending our people of fighting age out of the country and leaving it open to takeover by terrorist forces within our nation.

I think we should separate ourselves from the US though. The US is a very belligerent country and very keen to use force as a first resort. We should never have left the European Union. That is who we should ally ourselves with.

@bringsomewood the brochure talks about the government's response & what individuals should do. What do you want people to take from it? Have a couple of tins stored?

Once he’s gone though will this all continue? Russians love a luxurious life funded by dubious means , they won’t really want the world to be a radioactive wasteland or a perpetual battle ground and relying on outdated military equipment, I’d assume that at some point things will actually settle down when putin is out of the picture. Those around him saying similar are probably just trying to stay on the right side of him and won’t continue that stance once he’s gone

I am very much in favour of the youth of today. If anything, I probably have a little rosey view of them (they are my employees, or serve me my coffee, or listen and talk respectfully while I coach them in boxing).
As I understand, the army is generally not keen on taking in any large cohort of people who do not want to be there are will be out of the army as soon as they are trained to be vaguely useful. Indeed, the youth would be the best if they had to, but I certainly cannot imagine them wanting a group of Generation Xers with their drinking and poor fitness either.

Well Denmark still has conscription, and was invaded in WW2, plus the Scandinavian countries that I am familiar with are more comfortable with being collectively told to do stuff by the govt.

So it’s a reflection of a cultural difference - it doesn’t mean people in the UK aren’t worried about cyber attacks or the rise of the right, just that our government is a laughing stock, the daily mail is ridiculous and conscription isn’t going to happen.

No one is laughing this off. In the UK, advice has been provided to prepare for power and network outages for years. Anyone with an ounce of common sense will have heeded this.

People said they would never lock down the country and shut the schools as well. People are fools.

Im 46 and have survived without ever having created (or known how to) a powerpoint....id never considered it might be critical in a war situation...?

plus the Scandinavian countries that I am familiar with are more comfortable with being collectively told to do stuff by the govt.

Exactly & to be honest the brochure you posted @bringsomewood looks just as much about common sense & letting people feel somewhat in control, believe there is some control when in reality it will be awful.

@FloorWipes DH and I keep asking ourselves when are we going to become adults like our parents and be able to do those sort of things! We are in our 50s!

How can we prepare for these? Seriously - I wouldn't know where to start.

People said they would never lock down the country and shut the schools as well. People are fools.

🙄

We would be seriously scrapping the barrel if we had conscription . I know an army trainer and many have gone for training don't make it due to not even being able to wear the boots after a lifetime of trainers wearing, and also damage to lower joints such as knees / ankles etc .

I totally agree. They are more likely to know people from other countries because of the Internet so will see people as just people.
Wars are often about old white men wanting to inflict suffering on other groups of people while getting richer in the process.
If they want the support of young people then they should consider having the leaders fight each other one on one so that innocent civilians are kept safe. A peaceful life should be a human right.

@Emotionalsupportviper what a horrible post.

• Grow food Repair a bicycle Repair a car Repair home electrics Carpentry Foraging See, knit, make, repair clothes Start a fire Preserve food Navigate *

I can grow food, am handy with diy, can sew etc, start a fire, navigate. Can't repair a car but they are different these days anyway. However my childhood growing up in a very dodgy part of London has given me all the life skills I think I need for a war 😆😆

Did you see the list? It was not about a couple of tins. Of course lots of people can take from it, what are the cultural differences? It’s about taking responsibility for yourself and others. How many people even have a single bottle of water stored? For some people a list like this is exactly what is needed.

You or anyone in the UK obviously don’t have to do any of this, but also you should not expect anyone else to help you if you don’t even want to do the minimum to help yourself.

Indeed !!

Yes! Like in the Two Tribes video.

Yes, DH has a bag of it and some bin bags he uses with his porta potti if needs must, we haven't got a cat.

I think anyone with this mindset should be the first to volunteer!
I find it odd that those advocating for conscription/national service/volunteering are very often the people who have never done anything like this.
piscofrisco do you think conscripting people into care work is the way forward?
I’ll wait to hear of your experience in care work .

Thank goodness there are people who can. Please consider sharing your skills!

Russia are depleted both in terms of manpower, war fare and support.
They simply do not have the capacity to take on NATO - 31 countries soon to be Sweden as well. An astonishing 956 million people. All of these countries hold the same value to protect their democracies and autonomy.

This is about funding. The US war heads were always scheduled to come here, it happened when Ukraine was invaded and at other times. It has been conflated with the demands for a larger army etc.

We might see more cyber attacks or indirect low level action - such as attacks on shipping etc ( all funded by Iran and Russia) but the idea Russia can take on NATO is really incredibly unlikely.

Thinking conscription isn’t about to come back isn’t foolish. It’s a lot of burble to prep for increased defence spending.

It would be foolish not to realise that.

Warfare has changed a great deal in the last half century, mass conscription would be a useless waste of money.