Which of your children would take up arms if need be to defend their country

[Lardychops]

Ive been thinking about this a lot lately in a thought experiment/abstract way since Ukraine invasion and having lived years ago in Israel where young people do national service from 17 as a matter of course with frequent refreshers- obviously now for them being put to the test .
So, my question is -
In terms of the ‘barbarians at the gates scenario which of your children/neices /nephews /siblings parents would drop everything to defend their country/ city/town/ village and family if they needed to ? And do you think their lifestyle/career path impacts on this?

I have 1DD single mother of 3 - she would have been first in the queue pre kids and if I looked after them she would be first to front line

3x DS - all tradesmen- without hesitation- 1 has a child but a partner - he would be first on the front line after his sister. One of them would be terrified but his pride would make him follow his brothers to protect his family rather than any bigger picture

1xDSD - works in retail -No doubt she would pick up arms and fight to the death.

1xDSD- left Uni-just got back from travelling - nothing in hospitality- no chance.

Will someone think of the white people!

So many people saying 'not my kid' - and I totally understand why - war is an abhorrent waste of human life, destroying everything and everybody.

I think sadly this situation would really show the fault lines in our society - the young people I know in the cadet forces are mostly from working class families - they have fewer options than the children of those here on mumsnet and would be likely to see fighting for their country as a good thing.

I think some people underestimate the power of social media - if there was a sustained propaganda campaign on tiktok and other sites as there has been in Russia that created huge fear (like in Covid) and a sense of purpose/activity/meaning/honour in fighting then I think parents would not be able to stop their children from the choices they then make.

It's very obvious reading these that British people have never been governed by an oppressive regime. It's not just a matter of fighting as an opponent lands on your shores, what about if you were living under a brutal regime (possibly because you were unsuccessful in defending your shores). Imagine living in a time and place where people disappear in the night for voicing an opinion, where human rights are non existent for British people. Or imagine you and everyone you know were removed from your homes while the oppressive race or nationality moved in, you were sent to live in an area with no toilets and filthy water, where you had to queue for food for hours or forage in the woods, or sell your body to feed your children. Imagine your babies dying with no medical aid, or your DD being raped, your parents being humiliated, and this becomes your norm for 10 years while all around you the 'other' people live normal good lives. Now you have the choice of allowing your children continue this existence for the rest of their lives or joining a rebellion which involves doing things you aren't morally comfortable with, at the risk of their lives, what would your choice be?

There are times in life when the working class people are indispensable, during a pandemic and a war. 🥰 amazing how essential workers kept the countries going.

My 3.5 year old would go. Scared of nothing, but would be easily subdued if the enemy put Peppa Pig on a big screen on the battlefield.

Politicians who took us to war should have been given the guns and told to settle their differences themselves, instead of organizing nothing better than legalised mass murder

It would very much depend on the aggressors and why they were there
Nazis /Reform/trumpists- all of them

@Shenmen You would fight against right wing regimes, but would you fight against a left wing aggressor? Or do you believe better red than dead?

Couldn’t agree with you more

He's considering it but most asylum claims by Russians in Finland have been denied, and by claiming he risks deportation if its denied.

Non of the armed forces would take either of my kids ,Ds1 is an insulin dependent Diabetic
And Ds2 is severely autistic .

I think some people underestimate the power of social media - if there was a sustained propaganda campaign on tiktok and other sites as there has been in Russia that created huge fear (like in Covid) and a sense of purpose/activity/meaning/honour in fighting then I think parents would not be able to stop their children from the choices they then make

l completely disagree. Most people can think for themselves if they’ve got half a brain, Dd doesn’t do social media, DS would ignore it. People would just turn against it,

Once the politicians, super rich, landed gentry and royals (and their children) take up arms, my kids and I can fill in behind them.

Good point. Any form of extremist would be worth fighting against. Once you get so far right or left they are virtually the same in their abhorent treatment of people. The extreme right tend to pick on a specific group where as the extreme left surpress 99% of the people.

Sadly your children are representative of many people. Look at how people fell for Brexit and Reform. They were very good on social media.

Similar to this.

If we were being bombed by Nazis then yes.

If I felt like WE were actually in the wrong, then no.

I think DH and most of my relatives would feel the same.

My DS had this conversation with his 6th form friends. He was the only one who would fight.

I’m a Social worker in an Adolescents Team. (13-17) Used to teach secondary (History)
I agree many would, but in my view they would be those who largely came from working class.

(as a side note
When I taught, I found middle class kids often parroted their parents in their disdain for the West and hatred of their own country. (See also Nazis = Bad / Russian Rev/ Lenin /Stalin = Good- but you know, just got the old communism part a teeny weeny bit wrong)
I found it extraordinary- that’s real White Privilege’ - at its ugliest.

Ditto

Not surprised at all. X

Mine are far too young. But my brothers/cousins and partner would.

I would if I didn’t have the kids.

My mum was upset that one of our kids had the middle name Joseph, because of Stalin. He killed more people than Hitler (including 2 of my Mum's uncles).

Dulce et Decorum est…
Unfortunately I could see my primary age son thinking a war would be great fun, ‘Fortnite in Real Life’ and signing himself up.

If anyone has ever seen any of the Ukraine footage with the drones being used - I could see him being brilliant at that.
With a bit of training with an actual gun, he’d probably make a cracking sniper too.

It doesn’t give me any pleasure in knowing this and the cynic in me thinks these games are designed to get our children to train themselves for modern war- which is more about operating complex targeting systems than ‘boots on the ground’

You say this as though being a Nazi is unimaginable. Most people in Germany in 1939 were happy to go along with it, at least to begin with.

No I wouldn’t want my children to go to war for any government. The way we are treated is appalling, yes defending family but not the country. Things are very different now, we have so much more information and can make better informed choices. I am surprised so many would when you know that Blair took us into a war based on a lie and the shenanigans and lies during Covid. On that note I think we can also guess that it wouldn’t be the powers that be kids going in as cannon fodder, they’d be let off for some dubious reason or sat at head office doing important clever things. Given also the number of young people with disabilities and mental health problems frankly I’d be surprised we could send anyone anyway. We would leave the country and yes I’ve spoken to my DCs about this as it seems to keep being ‘floated’ in the media and neither of them would do it.

I do think rather than younger generations getting dragged into real wars maybe Putin/Netanyahu/Trump need to get more into something like Fortnite and other similar games. Satisfy that craving they clearly have .