Conscription subjects individual personalities to militarism. It is a form of servitude. That nations routinely tolerate it, is just one more proof of its debilitating influence -
Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, H.G. Wells, Bertrand Russell and Thomas Man "Against Conscription and the Military Training of Youth"
Conscription is Against Human Rights:
This line of argument deals with the concept that conscription is in violation of several areas of human rights, as laid out in the United Nations' UDHR. The aspects of the declaration that conscription follows are below:
* Art.1: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights
* Art.3: Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
* Art.4: No one shall be held in (…) servitude (…)
* Art.13: (1)Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state. (2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.
* Art.20: (…) No one may be compelled to belong to an association.
* Art.23: Everyone has the right (…) to free choice of employment (…)
All of these rights are through and through denied and violated when a person is conscripted against their will into a military organization.
Conscription as Slavery:
Many groups argue that any form of a draft and conscription constitutes a form of slavery, and hence it is immoral in the highest degree. This relates back to the UDHR article four which says that no one can be held in servitude. Slavery in any form is not compatible with democratic socialism.
Nationalism and the Promotion of Militarism:
The military draft is predicated on the assumption that nations have rights that supersede those of the individual. In the words of Einstein and Gandhi's Anti-Conscription Manifesto, "The State which thinks itself entitled to force its citizens to go to war will never pay proper regard to the value and happiness of their lives in peace." The building of large conscript armies coincided with the rise of virulent nationalism in the 19th and 20th centuries, culminating in the Second World War.
In peacetime, conscription can create an atmosphere of militarism and bigotry in society. Many young men in countries with compulsory conscription develop a cynical stance about militarism because the mandatory nature of conscription creates low morale amongst soldiers. This is especially true in countries where nationalist feelings are weak to begin with, such as Austria, Germany and Sweden, or where conditions are brutal, such as in Russia.
Men who have had military training can also be more ready to use violence to solve conflicts than those who have not. Conscription also may create an atmosphere of chauvinism, sexism and discrimination against those men who haven't served in the armed forces.
Conscription as a Tool for the Subjugation of Society:
My final argument against the institution of conscription is this, conscription is a tool that can be used, and is used, for the subjugation of society to the will of the oppressive state. This is especially so as the military is inherently based on the undemocratic notions of giving and following orders. The draft is a far more effective tool to instill obedience and unconditional following into society than giving a democratic populace the opportunity to control the military. Supporting that argument is the fact, that Nazi Germany changed the Reichswehr from an all-volunteer army in 1934 into the conscription-based Wehrmacht. Also almost all contemporary dictatorships have a military draft (Syria, North Korea, as well as Iraq under Saddam Hussein). Virtually all former military dictatorships relied heavily on conscripting their entire adolescent male populations (with the military dictatorships of Pakistan and Burma being notable exceptions). The former military dictatorships of Turkey, Greece, Spain, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Indonesia and Libya maintained draft systems throughout their reigns as well as all formerly Stalinist dictatorships and the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.
Rowland Keshena
Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, H.G. Wells, Bertrand Russell and Thomas Man "Against Conscription and the Military Training of Youth"
Conscription is Against Human Rights:
This line of argument deals with the concept that conscription is in violation of several areas of human rights, as laid out in the United Nations' UDHR. The aspects of the declaration that conscription follows are below:
* Art.1: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights
* Art.3: Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
* Art.4: No one shall be held in (…) servitude (…)
* Art.13: (1)Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state. (2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.
* Art.20: (…) No one may be compelled to belong to an association.
* Art.23: Everyone has the right (…) to free choice of employment (…)
All of these rights are through and through denied and violated when a person is conscripted against their will into a military organization.
Conscription as Slavery:
Many groups argue that any form of a draft and conscription constitutes a form of slavery, and hence it is immoral in the highest degree. This relates back to the UDHR article four which says that no one can be held in servitude. Slavery in any form is not compatible with democratic socialism.
Nationalism and the Promotion of Militarism:
The military draft is predicated on the assumption that nations have rights that supersede those of the individual. In the words of Einstein and Gandhi's Anti-Conscription Manifesto, "The State which thinks itself entitled to force its citizens to go to war will never pay proper regard to the value and happiness of their lives in peace." The building of large conscript armies coincided with the rise of virulent nationalism in the 19th and 20th centuries, culminating in the Second World War.
In peacetime, conscription can create an atmosphere of militarism and bigotry in society. Many young men in countries with compulsory conscription develop a cynical stance about militarism because the mandatory nature of conscription creates low morale amongst soldiers. This is especially true in countries where nationalist feelings are weak to begin with, such as Austria, Germany and Sweden, or where conditions are brutal, such as in Russia.
Men who have had military training can also be more ready to use violence to solve conflicts than those who have not. Conscription also may create an atmosphere of chauvinism, sexism and discrimination against those men who haven't served in the armed forces.
Conscription as a Tool for the Subjugation of Society:
My final argument against the institution of conscription is this, conscription is a tool that can be used, and is used, for the subjugation of society to the will of the oppressive state. This is especially so as the military is inherently based on the undemocratic notions of giving and following orders. The draft is a far more effective tool to instill obedience and unconditional following into society than giving a democratic populace the opportunity to control the military. Supporting that argument is the fact, that Nazi Germany changed the Reichswehr from an all-volunteer army in 1934 into the conscription-based Wehrmacht. Also almost all contemporary dictatorships have a military draft (Syria, North Korea, as well as Iraq under Saddam Hussein). Virtually all former military dictatorships relied heavily on conscripting their entire adolescent male populations (with the military dictatorships of Pakistan and Burma being notable exceptions). The former military dictatorships of Turkey, Greece, Spain, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Indonesia and Libya maintained draft systems throughout their reigns as well as all formerly Stalinist dictatorships and the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.
Rowland Keshena
Then lots of expendable muscular, aggressive male conscripts or cannon fodder would be needed and women soldiers won't cut it. But it isn't so. Therefore, all the reasons for NS are nothing but propaganda crap.
