[shmichael]

Where I grew up, mandatory military service was required, and not just for a few months but rather years.

I've seen people who quit and people, like me, who clinched their teeth and got through the whole ordeal. I myself at the time considered whether I should quit and stop wasting my precious time. I decided against, because in that society not having completed military service would be a social stain impossible to erase.

More importantly, quitting would change the way I view and value myself. I wanted to see myself as someone who performed their fair share of service back to society, and not a parasite. With the mindset I had back then, quitting would have changed my self view, and at least temporarily lost my sense of integrity. I would be a very different person today.

Looking around my social group, I might be biased but those that chose to quit military service more often than not drifted into the sidelines in terms of career, social integration, and other aspects. Of course some are absolutely fine. I can't say if that's merely correlation or actual causality, but I'm content with my loss of years spent doing something I wasn't really enjoying.

[dev_tty01]

The parent comment is about doing something you don't want to do rather than doing something you don't enjoy. Important distinction. You did military service because you wanted to do it. It had real value to you. You did not continue doing something that you did not actually want to do. I would say that was a good decision for you. You didn't enjoy it but you valued it. It is easy to get these conflated.

[philipov]

There's a difference between wanting to do something, and not wanting to not have done something.

[zogrodea]

Someone could have reasons for wanting to do something and reasons for not wanting to do it to. In the comment being discussed, that’s the desire to quit the military (the person did not want to waste their time) and the desire not to quit (not out of eating to be in the military but because those who quit faced negative consequences).

[noveltyaccount]

Sense of duty to country is very different than sense of duty to a company that can fire you for any reason at any time.

[BossingAround]

Sounds like South Korea.

> More importantly, quitting would change the way I view and value myself. I wanted to see myself as someone who performed their fair share of service back to society, and not a parasite.

This is an insanely sad thing to read. You pay taxes, unless you're in an active war, you don't "owe" anything to the society.

[ajkjk]

Eh disagree. It makes a lot of sense to me. If everyone is doing a duty and you shirk it of course you are betraying everyone else.

Notwithstanding the military service being mandatory for really bad reasons, but if it's South Korea it's kinda not?

Saying the only way to 'owe' anything is through money sounds like a... weird Americanism to me (speaking as an American).

[weebull]

Could also be Israel, Switzerland, Greece, Brazil, or any number of other places

[ajkjk]

True. But imo it is up to the country to decide if they think military service is a social duty, so, whatever. The idea that "taxes are all there is" is... Missing cultural relativism, I guess.

Ofc, caveat, if it's rich people deciding poor people have to do service, then yeah that's messed up. But kind of a separate issue.

[glimshe]

It's not Brazil. It's just one year there (for those who want to serve, in practice), and you can't quit before the said year is over.

[ninkendo]

> Saying the only way to 'owe' anything is through money sounds like a... weird Americanism to me (speaking as an American).

In their defense, using taxes to pay others to do the work of maintaining/defending a nation allows better specialization of labor which can have its advantages. But it needs to be balanced with actual shared effort too, especially with things like national defense.

[ninkendo]

I understand what you’re saying, but a country that only has people enlisted when they’re already at war, is not one that’s going to be very secure. Constant preparation is necessary for any nation that wants to have its own military, and being enlisted in the service absolutely counts as a “share of service back to society” to me. It can’t just be someone else’s problem forever.

[yongjik]

I don't think that's South Korea - in South Korea you aren't allowed to just "quit" because you hate the army.

[scrollaway]

South Korea is in an active war — you know that, right? It’s the reason they have mandatory military service.

[jhanschoo]

> I might be biased but those that chose to quit military service more often than not drifted into the sidelines in terms of career, social integration, and other aspects.

When you phrase it like this, it seems to me that you value having a good career and social integration.

On the other hand just seems to me that one's career and social integration is exactly the sort of thing that someone who quits conscription values highly. Without more information, it seems to me that such a person as you describe may consider themself to be leading a good life (in terms of satisfaction and/or morally).

[ojbyrne]

How do people quit mandatory service? Doesn’t that usually involve going to jail?

[shmichael]

You might go to jail, or there are any number of methods to disqualify yourself from service, for instance through mental or religious reasons (which you'd presumably fake).

[Fire-Dragon-DoL]

I'll throw this out: some people might be against military service enough that if they powered through it, they could get depressed and eventually kill themselves. Considering this, it doesn't seem optimal to stick to it

[richrichie]

Military is dead weight, not really as noble a service as you think it is. You are better off serving in other ways that puts your talent to good use.

PS I volunteered and served nearly for a decade as an officer.

[tut-urut-utut]

Wait, it was mandatory, but you were allowed to quit?

Maybe it wasn’t that mandatory.