Making Military Services Mandatory
Military service provides young people with the opportunity to develop and become stronger not only physically, but also mentally. Both physical and mental developments are highly beneficial to the young people. Military training provides a lot of benefits such as mental toughening, physical conditioning, and an opportunity to promote equality among the old and the young members of the society. The issue of equality, in all societal realms, has been a serious headache to a number of governments around the world. It has led some governments to consider mandatory military service for its citizens. A number of nations around the world have made it mandatory to join the military service. These countries include democratic nations like Austria, Denmark, Brazil, Germany, Switzerland, Finland, Mexico, Israel, Russia, Sweden, Norway, South Korea, Taiwan and Turkey. Nonetheless, mandatory military service is a controversial topic with some people in support while others are totally opposed to it. With the use of both interviews, with former and current military personnel, and journals, this paper will discuss both sides of the debate, taking a stand against mandatory military service.
Military service provides valuable skills and experience for young people, and it is a significant milestone from their past experiences, especially for those having problems transitioning to young adulthood. Thus, a change in perspective can help them in viewing life in a different way. Military service opens up their minds and widens their view of the world. It allows young people to learn to tolerate others and their culture. They can also be presented with a chance to work harder in their future, and develop a stronger sense of belonging and responsibility to their nation. In an interview with my grandfather Chun-Jan Cheng, a former officer in the military, he suggested that joining the military was one of the best things that have ever happened in his life; “Everything I do in my life so far is colored by my military experience. It was the best moment in my life which helped me to develop the leadership skill that I still use now,” he says. He also mentioned that before joining the military, he had issues with the authorities for delinquent behavior. However, after two years in the military, he has emerged a tremendously influential and productive member of the community. Military service would achieve a lot in teaching young people the value of patriotism, responsibility, as well as sacrifice.
From the previous paragraph, it can be noted that service in the military has benefits to a person and the society as a whole. Modernization has encouraged lifestyles that reduce participation in strenuous exercises. Many tasks are now automated leaving the young people with little or no work. The society is, therefore, becoming more dormant and lazy. This is evident among the young people of today who are highly inactive and lack a terrific deal of physical exercise. This is unfortunate given the fact that they are consuming a lot of junk food. With increased consumption of junk food, exercise should be part of life. Without physical exercise, there are increased chances of developing lifestyle diseases such as obesity and diabetes. As a matter of fact, there has been a recent increase in the cases of diabetes among young people. Thus, military would provide the young people with the opportunity for physical activity and even develop this as a norm. This will help young people to remain healthy and also save their society a lot of money that otherwise goes to health care due to these preventable disorders.
The military also produce reserve human resource that may be needed when a nation faces external threats. This implies that a nation with mandatory military service is more secure since they have enough trained personnel. It should, therefore, be noted...