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Should there be mandatory national service?
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Mandatory service requirements are easily manipulated

Mandatory national service requirements can easily be manipulated by the wealthy to avoid conscription and service. This would make mandatory service requirements affect certain populations disproportionally.

The Argument

Mandatory national service can be very easily manipulated and evaded by wealthy people who can pay government officials to get out of serving.[1] The wealthy in most countries around the world already evade requirements and get special treatment, whether through nepotism or aquiring tax breaks. A mandatory national service requirement would disproportionally affect low-income and minority communities.[2][3] These communities would be put at the most risk and would make the most sacrifices. This system would stem more internal conflict within the nations. Citizens would be at odds with one another, and the biased nature of this system would not work. Not every citizen is equipped for national service. The quality of the military would be skewed if everyone was required to serve.[4] Governments could manipulate this and use it to their advantage if they wished to weaken their nation's military to allow other countries to invade or to instill fear in citizens to gain power. For example, Hitler and Mussolini used fear tactics and a mandatory national service to grab power and create authoritarian regimes in their countries.[1] Mandatory national service requirements are easily manipulated by the wealthy and disproportionately affect low-income and minority populations.

Counter arguments

Mandatory national service would have requirements that would make it difficult to avoid conscription. Circumstances would not be based on or persuaded by wealth. The training in these programs would make every citizen prepared to serve to the best of their capacity.

Proponents

Premises

Rejecting the premises

References

  1. https://www.procon.org/headlines/mandatory-national-service-top-3-pros-and-cons/
  2. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1989/02/06/national-service-plan-fair-to-poor-minorities/dfeae0fc-d001-496d-9795-0af35c423339/
  3. https://connectusfund.org/10-meaningful-pros-and-cons-of-mandatory-military-service
  4. https://www.procon.org/headlines/mandatory-national-service-top-3-pros-and-cons/
This page was last edited on Monday, 19 Oct 2020 at 02:58 UTC

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