this post was submitted on 19 Aug 2023
30 points (80.0% liked)

World News

32321 readers
674 users here now

News from around the world!

Rules:

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
 

The option of “alternative service” vanished after martial law was declared last year. But some have refused to serve, and now face jail time and skepticism about their motives.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] kd637_mi@lemmy.sdf.org 8 points 1 year ago

I disagree that being born in a certain country gives you a duty to fight and die for it, especially as a lot of lower income people fall through the cracks when it comes to receiving help. Sometimes protecting your friends and family involves getting out of where you are. An untrained person given a gun against their will is often quickly just another number in the casualty list

I did my time in my country's military voluntary, something I now regret. I fundamentally disagree with the brutal overseas wars we were involved in, but at the time the conditioning was fairly strong. It took me a few years after being out to realise how bad it was. Luckily for me and my conscience I was never sent overseas through a quirk of how my training played out. I don't like the idea of people being forced into that environment.