david-gpu 2 days ago

> This protects against coups, ensures your power in society and prevents groups of officers and soldiers etc. from taking over.

Meanwhile Spain suffered an attempted coup in 1981 [0] while mandatory military service was still in place [1]. The conscripts did not play a role in protecting democracy.

[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1981_Spanish_coup_attempt

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_Service_(Spain)

1
actionfromafar 2 days ago

There are no silver bullets. It's just that having (solely) an elite warrior class is an extra risk.

david-gpu 1 day ago

Decision-making in the armed forces is always performed by a "warrior class". The people who operate heavy war machinery are also career soldiers; conscripts are light infantry.

And there is a very real economic cost to mandatory military service. It only makes sense in the context of a small country (in terms of population) bordering a large aggressive neighbor, such as Finland or (possibly) Canada.

impossiblefork 1 day ago

No, conscripts operate also tanks and artillery. They also load and prepare combat aircraft.

Artillery and tanks will have some kind of professional officer though.

actionfromafar 1 day ago

Armed forces culture is also incredibly important. Goal/mission oriented organizations are harder to co-opt than top-down command structure organizations.