[raffael_de]

Number of characters for the title is limited. And while I wouldn't necessarily call it draconian because after all somebody has to defend my country; it in deed comes as a shock. And it is also shocking that I just randomly stumbled over this news article when this law is in effect already for 3 months. How is it possible that our news talk about all sorts of nonsense but not about something as fundamentally relevant as this ... this is the real shock.

[uyzstvqs]

> And while I wouldn't necessarily call it draconian because after all somebody has to defend my country

The ends don't justify the means. Conscription has no place in the free world. It's slavery, plain and simple. Going into the military should be an appealing career choice. Our soldiers are supposed to be highly skilled professionals, not cannon fodder in large quantities.

[raffael_de]

So, if some other country with different value system attacks your homeland with intention to effectively colonize it then you'd be okay with just letting it happen?

[kiviuq]

I believe it is up to the free individual to make that decision. I'm not saving the slave ship when I'm treated like one.

ps: There are 8 billion people on this planet, and I've never had any serious issues with any of them, much less a reason to start a war. Governments are always the cause of everyone's misery. Beware of yours!

[IAmBroom]

We now know for certain you don't live in Ukraine, nor any other country that has been invaded in your lifetime.

[kiviuq]

My family is from Ramallah so my wish to die for someone's greater cause is somewhat constrained.

[plorkyeran]

If you can’t get volunteers for a defensive war then that says a lot about how much the people living in your country value its continued existence.

[subsistence234]

The regime spent the past 50 years teaching everyone that their nation is just a source of shame and at best just a meaningless social construct, and that their culture and people's history is trash, that really nothing about it is worth saving.

And now the regime wants them to voluntarily sacrifice their lives for it.

[uyzstvqs]

No. I support a strong, volunteer military force of highly trained professionals (AVF). For example, how the US Army works today.

It's not only moral and compatible with human rights in the free world, it's also far more effective.

[mrob]

Any country that contains millionaires while using military slaves ("conscripts") is evil. If there is clear existential risk then the state should implement wealth taxes to pay volunteer troops instead of enslaving people. And if literally everybody outside the military has been taxed down to the poverty line, and there are still not enough volunteers, it's time to surrender.

[haukem]

I am also surprised that I haven't read about this in German news before. I am following the news. If Trump would have signed an executive order with a similar content affecting US citizen, German media would probably report about this multiple days long with many articles.

I was looking in Google news for other reports about this, but only found an article from Berliner Zeitung published 5 hours after this article from Frankfurter Rundschau.

I am worried about what other information which could be important to me, the news did not report on.

As far as I understood the law the article from FR is correct: https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/wehrpflg/__3.html

[subsistence234]

Really exposes the current state of journalism in Germany and more broadly Europe: just propaganda and gossip.

A functioning "fourth estate" would have reported on this *before* the law was passed.

[mnmalst]

I agree in general. One reason we haven't heard anything about it might be that the administration already admitted that this legislation needs correction or at least clarification, as mentioned in the article.

[raffael_de]

No, that is not mentioned in the article. The correction and clarification is regarding how exactly this is being implemented. The law is there ... don't think this is a mistake. And there should be serious discussions in a society before something like that is made a law.

[mnmalst]

Fair, yes I agree. Didn't mean to excuse anything they introduced.

[kristianc]

Draconian law gets introduced, public outcry ensues. Oh okay we will make it six months then. This is how civil liberties get eroded.