Vulnerability not, but sympathy misunderstood for empathy will. I don’t think German Gen Z doesn’t enlist because of vulnerability, but because of culture. German liberal nationalism relies on ‘Never again’ as a mantra of nonaggression; to them the Bundeswehr was always a compromise against the NVA.
Schools until recently told us that conventional war is ‘fallen out of time’, “look at UN, EU, OSCE”.
As a German Gen Z my main concern would be the fact that you can’t rely on the promise that our army is purely there for defence. I’m ready to defend my home and the home of my neighbors but I’m not willing to be sent to another continent to (allegedly) do so. Right now that may not be an issue but these things can change overnight.
Last year I was seriously considering having myself examined for those new-ish territorial defense units in the reserve.
With the theoretical possibility of an AgD/CxU government the risk of having to guard some camps instead of critical infrastructure has become greater than 0, therefore I will wait for at least six months to see how Fritz von Papen fares.
German liberal nationalism is a sham for different reasons, but also neoliberalism destroyed the economic social contract.
Why should i die, so old people can sit in their large houses unaffordable to me, despite my better qualification, while they also destroy the environment and proudly fuel climate change with their big cars and cruise travels? Of course there is also plenty of old people who barely get by. But those dont demand the young people to sacrifice themselves in the reactionary “liberal” media.
At the same time Germany does have access to higher education without going through the military if you aren’t affluent. So forcing the poor into the military as the only option to escape poverty is not as severe like in the US.
Technically, conventional war is largely obsolete. As long as you do have a reliable and credible nuclear deterrent. Germany has long been in the very comfortable position to fool itself into deeming conventional war obsolete without having to maintain an own nuclear deterrent. With the USA finally having revealed itself to even the most servile transatlanticist as an utterly unreliable ally, (in fact, as more of the kind of “ally” commonly referred to as “enemy”) this illusion is falling apart.
Vulnerability not, but sympathy misunderstood for empathy will. I don’t think German Gen Z doesn’t enlist because of vulnerability, but because of culture. German liberal nationalism relies on ‘Never again’ as a mantra of nonaggression; to them the Bundeswehr was always a compromise against the NVA.
Schools until recently told us that conventional war is ‘fallen out of time’, “look at UN, EU, OSCE”.
As a German Gen Z my main concern would be the fact that you can’t rely on the promise that our army is purely there for defence. I’m ready to defend my home and the home of my neighbors but I’m not willing to be sent to another continent to (allegedly) do so. Right now that may not be an issue but these things can change overnight.
What do you mean? Germany is defended in the Hindukush of course /s
Last year I was seriously considering having myself examined for those new-ish territorial defense units in the reserve.
With the theoretical possibility of an AgD/CxU government the risk of having to guard some camps instead of critical infrastructure has become greater than 0, therefore I will wait for at least six months to see how Fritz von Papen fares.
German liberal nationalism is a sham for different reasons, but also neoliberalism destroyed the economic social contract.
Why should i die, so old people can sit in their large houses unaffordable to me, despite my better qualification, while they also destroy the environment and proudly fuel climate change with their big cars and cruise travels? Of course there is also plenty of old people who barely get by. But those dont demand the young people to sacrifice themselves in the reactionary “liberal” media.
At the same time Germany does have access to higher education without going through the military if you aren’t affluent. So forcing the poor into the military as the only option to escape poverty is not as severe like in the US.
Wow, that’s been the attitude here too, but you never hear people say it outright.
Technically, conventional war is largely obsolete. As long as you do have a reliable and credible nuclear deterrent. Germany has long been in the very comfortable position to fool itself into deeming conventional war obsolete without having to maintain an own nuclear deterrent. With the USA finally having revealed itself to even the most servile transatlanticist as an utterly unreliable ally, (in fact, as more of the kind of “ally” commonly referred to as “enemy”) this illusion is falling apart.