L’esercito tedesco fatica a rendere le reclute di Gen Z “Ready for War”
https://www.ft.com/content/30594f17-6a55-4189-afda-57cdf0176841
di mho453
L’esercito tedesco fatica a rendere le reclute di Gen Z “Ready for War”
https://www.ft.com/content/30594f17-6a55-4189-afda-57cdf0176841
di mho453
29 commenti
It’s not just a German problem. We have the same problem in the Netherlands, although I have to admit that there’s a surge in younger people being interested in a career in the defense department.
And it’s not just Gen Z. We *all* have to adjust. We *all* have to realize that the world is changing fast. *All* of us have to deliver. We *all* have to make sacrifices.
And that’s one of the biggest problems in Europe. We’ve become spoiled and entitled. Are we willing to give up some of our benefits for the greater good? For Europe’s own protection?
“While a recent survey by the pollster YouGov found 58 per cent of Germans would support a return to conscription, only a third of those aged between 18 and 29 felt the same way.”
It sums it up pretty well, the people that would need to be part of the defensive change in Europe, don’t want it. It is easier to just shout on social media and be condescending, rather than accountable.
It echo’s the yougov poll of Europeans thinking Ukraine needs more support, but don’t think it should come from their country.
[https://yougov.co.uk/international/articles/51741-where-does-western-europe-stand-on-ukraine-donald-trump-and-national-defence](https://yougov.co.uk/international/articles/51741-where-does-western-europe-stand-on-ukraine-donald-trump-and-national-defence)
It sums up the position rather well.
They have been ignoring the military service until the very last minute where ignorance was no longer an option due to US doing a demo of nazism nation wide.
You need to prepare society for conscription, you can’t just wave a wand, do a full 180 and expect everyone to be on board.
It’s always “gen z this” and “gen z that.” Oldest Gen Z are almost years old now and are not getting conscripted just like the baby boomers after the war.
I hear they need at least a month just to stop them jumping across the battlefield…
It’s understandable to a degree, being safe and distanced from the east.
The ones living directly next to Vova and his army of violent crackheads don’t have the luxury of not caring.
Young people don‘t want to enlist while facing a possible World War in the near future?
How can they be so selfish! /s
I think this is a sort of sensitive subject. Might get downvoted.
Btw I’m a millennial, not gen z.
But I think “what are you willing to die for” is just as personal as your religion or sexual orientation.
Would I throw my life away for the country that keeps fucking me in the ass raw for the last decade and a half? I would really have to think twice.
I firmly believe that these wars are just the symptom of the world having crap leaders in general. Yes, there are better ones, and there are worse ones. But I am greatly disappointed in the so called “elite”.
By this time, in the heart of Europe I should really be able to wonder about other things than whether I’ll die a violent death in the next 10 years or not.
Furthermore we live in an era where we are bombarded with information. War is not romanticised anymore. Our countries and their leadership is not romanticised. We don’t only get our information from tabloids and we have much more access to the grey areas of politics.
We wouldn’t go to war with the feeling of fighting for the greater good.
And to add to it, although this is just me on a personal level: I’m literally not even killing bugs. I out them out. I learned how to lif spider gently by their legs. I really don’t feel like I would want to harm another being. Sorry.
The only reason to join the military, with the pay as low as it is, is patriotism, and that’s pretty much dead in most of Europe’s youth. Why would they fight for a country that they don’t love?
Maybe governments should give young people a country worth fighting for? The whole economy has stagnated, even Germany is in a mild recession. These kids know there will be no housing for them and if there is, they’ll be paying it off their entire lives. Cost of living has affected them and their parents and communities.
The EU has no problem picking 840 billion euros out of their arse when there is a war on the horizon but couldn’t do this for infrastructure and housing. #
Give them a country and a Europe worth fighting for.
We recently also had a report that people wanting to be reservists never heard back from the Bundeswehr or only after more than half a year.
People are doing a lot of crazy stuff, when they believe in something.
Years after declaring soldiers as murderers, demilitarisation, focusing of german history on the nazi era and not having any sense of national pride, but “Erb-Schuld” (something like i am guilty because i am birn german), removal of soldier memorials and national symbols, people are now expected to go die for there country? When we are not even honoring does who died? Even declaring them murderers?
I dont think this is something about being lazy or so, its a lost sense of national pride. (I would have hoped for european pride filling it up, but maybe in the future).
I think there is a huge lack of reasons to die for your country in this setting.
Additionally i want to ask, if you have two passports or strong connection to a non-german country/culture: Are you willing to figth or die for Germany?
Edit: Sorry for the rant. But i also would like to add: in a old country, most of the people not affected by a rule are mostly for it, because other people will have the downsides? What are the older ones doing in a war? Sitting in a cafe living their life, as during corona?
Germany does not seem to care about children or the youth, but requires them to die for the country? The focus is all about the larger older generations and this is just another step…
(Yeah i know, no scientifical text, but just a rant with lot of feelings and assumptions)
Edit 2: Sorry, but beeing occupied seems better than to die? Strongly depends an the occupier, who doesnt care for you. Beeing occupied by russians migth seem worse than being dead on some point…
I can’t understand the exact purpose of basic military training for everyone. After the millennium, if any big country began a conventional war, this would be a catastrophe. I did my compulsory military service, and I can say this is not an efficient way to be ready. You can prevent war when you don’t feed the enemy and have a deterrent technology. What is the way of war? Normandy landings, Turkish janissary units? I can’t believe that our governments couldn’t produce compelling political aspects against Russia. This is insane.
For the cheapest gas, we have to face it now. Pure madness.
Ukraine wouldn’t have to go to war if everyone obeyed the agreement. They are abandoned. If we want to protect our countries, we should start with billionaires and new reality parrots. We had an order. They want to eat more. Young generations won’t pay the bill.
The problem is, when you surrender, death still awaits you.
Crimea joined Russia directly in 2014. But they regret it now. Husbands were sent to the front with their wives crying.
The Netherlands surrendered quickly in Hitler’s blitzkrieg in 1940. But the citizens were not spared. Their food was looted, and the city was plunged into mass starvation. (These well-to-do Internet anchors have no idea what it’s like to be hungry, do they?)
The biggest mistake the stupid people made was to imagine that they were taking their lives for granted. And that war is just a change of flag for him.
Think about it. A militaristic state drains an entire country of industry and manpower just to change your home’s nation flag?
Just Gen Z? I thought this was the case with millennials as well (was that not the generation when most European countries removed the draft requirement)?
Edit: I looked up Germany and it did not removed conscription until 2011 😳…..
I´m 27 and in no fckn world I´m gonna fight / die for my country, for no country in this world. I would fight for my family but thats it
Let’s go to death the oldest ones, not the youngest.
While I’m in favor of training for people, you can’t ask people to join army if you don’t provide example. Strong leaders make strong people. We need a leadership in Europe that we can count to protect us, not only for us to protect their status.
I guess it’s about education. Europeans youth is highly informed about history, politics, society and doesn’t want to make the same mistakes as their ancestors. They are fed up with the permanent cycle of violence. They’ve learned what nationalism/extreme patriotism can lead to and they just don’t want to die for ‘ancient ideas’ of national identity.
And they are right. The vast global majority doesn’t want to go to war either. The countries who are at war or think about it are forcing their citizens into military service. It’s always a tiny fraction of narcissistic leaders who are responsible for the suffering.
The German and Dutch armies merged a couple of years ago. In the Netherlands, many young people are interested in the army, so there doesn’t seem to be a problem. However, they might have to replace a German battalion with a Dutch one.
They have struggled to find enough recruits since the conscription was dropped. That is more down to the attractiveness of the job and the salary.
No real news here, except the part where they still haven’t figured out that improving the job prospects might yield more recruits.
Take away their phone for a month, send them to training and they’ll get back into shape right away. Don’t make a big deal out of it.
No they are not.
Build 300m shooting ranges managed by the army all around Germany close to cities.
Allow every EU citizen to walk in, pay for ammo (100 5.56 bullets is 25 euros), get basic introduction by an instructor and shoot.
You can even make it mandatory once per month, and allow people to buy their own rifles to store at the gun range.
You could end up with tens of millions of men and women who shoot a minimum of 1200 bullets per year in a controlled environment with instructors, while paying for some costs by themselves.
The high performing motivated people can be offered specialist trainings as full fledged reserve in operating complex systems, tanks, AA, etc.
As an EU citizen living in Germany I would love to be able to do that, going to gun ranges at the moment is too expensive for too few bullets.
I would gladly buy my own gun and ammo for access to such a gun range.
Current reserve systems in Europe are too inflexible, I am working as an Engineer, I don’t have the time nor should a country want to pull me from my job for some half assed ineffective training.
The most important skill for an infantry man are his rifle skills, fitness and high level tactics can’t effectively be thought in the reserve without negatively effecting the economy by pulling people out of it.
It has to be flexible to be attractive, financially viable, accessible, for regular working people with bills and loans to pay.
This is why I have serious doubts, whenever redditors brag how hard EU would easily crush Russia in war, because they have big GDP.
Ukrainians actually willing to go in the dirt, fight and die, to sacriface their economy and standard of living to stop Russia, is the greatest gift Europe could receive. The gift of life that you don’t have to give, because they do.
And many Europeans still treat them like shit, refuse to increase support for Ukraine.
I know this will be controversial. Why not link it to eased acess to restricted (average grades in high school or bachelors) uni study programs. So when you go into voluntary training, you get an easier chance to study medicine even if you dont have that perfect 1.0 average.
Incentives. There have to be incentives, and this isnt necessarily money.
Gen z doesn’t want to fire in pointless wars, They can just look what WW2 was and be like “Nope! I’m not giving my life for corrupt politicians”. As a Finnish person I understand it.
Ive always said you only want to conscript orphans from birth so you can turn them into heartless killing machines and then get rid of them when their job is done.
Give people advantages like in the US for active duty members or veterans.
Promote some patriotism in a healthy way. Have the anthem played before any professional sports game started etc.
There are many things we should copy from the US to promote our defense forces.
I’m 37 and would instantly fight for Germany if a War broke out.