Issue snapshot- male only conscription. Many countries require male citizens only into involuntary military service, or 'civilian service' was is essentially forced labor for less than minimum wage.

dajoor · 2019-09-16T17:14:13+00:00

Women could be conscripted (or drafted) to fulfill many other roles and duties to benefit society.

Sininenn · 2019-09-16T22:46:22+00:00

You should add Denmark, also Finland. (not sure about Sweden tbh)

Nordic countries are praised as a fucking liberal utopia, yet these two still only force men into conscription.

furchfur · 2019-09-16T22:17:11+00:00

Austria:

Most women voted to keep conscription of males only:

https://20committee.com/2013/01/21/austria-votes-to-keep-conscription/comment-page-1/

PoisonToasty · 2019-09-16T14:50:52+00:00

To be fair. Several of these countries are also behind in feminism.

Women usually arent ALLOWED to even try to be a soldier.

These cases of men being forced into military positions also usually supports the family if the soldier doesnt die.

Giving them many perks.

ngrys · 2019-09-16T16:27:51+00:00

To be fair, as a singaporean conscript soldier, I feel that:

Conscription is necessary to our defense due to the small population and our geopolitical context. If Singapore did not have a strong armed forces, we would definitely be bullied by our bigger neighbours into aligning to their demands at our expense. Furthermore, a strong defense results in stability, which encourages foreign investment. Having little natural resources, Singapore is highly reliant on foreign investment as a source of revenue. Thus, our defense is directly linked to our economic stability. If we weren't forced to join the military, most if us wouldn't join, and there wouldn't be a force large enough to meet the needs of Singapore.
Conscripting both males and females would be detrimental to our economy, firstly due to our small size, and secondly due to the nature of our economy which is highly service based, resulting in people being an important component of our economic machine. To conscript both males and females would be to take all people aged about 19 out of the workforce for 2 years, which simply wouldn't do in Singapore's case. We need every person we can get.

I understand the sentiments behind the call for the abolisgment of conscription, but I do feel that, in the case of Singapore, it is still the most pragmatic option. There are many nuances at play here, and I feel that one cannot simply make blanket statements in this case. This is not to say Singaporean males enjoy being conscripted. The vasy majority don't, but most of us understand that it is necessary and will willingly but begrudgingly serve our nation for the 2 years because we know it's for the best. Eating the bitter medicine so to speak. After all, if we don't defend our loved ones, no one else will.

Tl;dr: As a Singaporean male who has been conscripted into the army, I feel that it is necessary to the success of Singapore.

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