*** Official Putin Started Shootin' Thread ***

[Poopadoop]

You've taken all the worst parts of what is and criticized them as parts of what I've proposed, only I never did propose them.

You made some arguments for why you think mandatory service is a good thing. I gave some counterarguments. I don't see where I'm putting words in your mouth anywhere.

For example, the ranks of a mandatory service armed forces will skew far closer to the center as compared to the rightward/nationalistic skew of a volunteer only military. I do concede that it's possible that while the military would be far less right leaning/nationalistic/conservative/whatever, society as a whole may to one degree or another lean moreso. I don't think that this is a given, but if it is the case, I think the more cohesive society is likely a fair trade off.

Yeah maybe. But if creating a more cohesive society is one of the goals, you could make joining the Boy Scouts mandatory and achieve the same thing at a younger age with much less cost.

Regarding this resulting in a bloated rank (my math lands at 4-8m. The annual births 18 years ago were right around 4m, so depending on 1 or 2 years service..),

You're right; I goofed there. There's about 10m males and 10m females ages 15-19 in 2019. So 20m. If two of those five years are in m.s., that's 8m. If one is, it's 4m. Either still seems high though (to me). Like I said, there's very little chance the US is going to be under threat of imminent invasion and suddenly be happy they have 4-8m people ready to fight and millions more in reserve. You already have the most OP military in the world, why does it need to be even more OP?

the mission can expand, everyone can have basic military training, but a large percent of conscripts can serve their mandatory years doing hearts and minds kind of work here at home as well as abroad.

I knew a guy who grew up in Germany during the 80s when they had mandatory service. He chose the conscientious objector option instead, which involved helping out in care homes, etc. That seems more beneficial to society than learning how to kill people.

Anyways, I could go on, but I'm sure if you cared and were open to a change of mind, you could go back to your post and pick your own low hanging fruit.

I'm open to a change of mind, but I'm stupid and need the low hanging fruit pointed out to me. Convince me.