Side Note

On a side note I was rethinking Rodrick’s proposal for national service for young adults once they are 18. It seemed as if most of the class was opposed to this idea. I went to public school in Germany for a number of years, the German system of national service reminded me of our discussion and Rodrick’s plan. They have essentially the same three options. If you have a strong education you can apply to spend two years doing civil work such as helping at daycares or schools. This is very selective and difficult to get into. The other options involve being conscripted into the German military for only about one year. There, you can either request humanitarian work. One of my friends was deployed to Vietnam to help build schools as part of the German Military. The other option once you are in the military is to be trained as a soldier to serve in a non-combat role. The German government only sends volunteers to combat zones such as Afghanistan.

There are a few differences between Rodrick’s proposal and the system in place in German. Only males who have completed their secondary education perform national service. Unlike Rodick’s proposal, Germans do not spend two years performing national service. Like many people in class expressed, many of my friends did not like postponing their college education for a year but since it is part of being a German citizen they did.