believe it or not, the swiss were once a warlike people. there is still evidence of this. to this day, the guards at the vatican are swiss. but the swiss discovered long ago that constant warfare brought them nothing but suffering and poverty. they adopted a policy of neutrality, and while the rest of the world seethed in turmoil, switzerland, a country with hardly any natural resources, enjoyed peace and prosperity. the rest of the world is still not ready to accept this simple and obvious solution. most countries not only maintain permanent armies but require all their young men to do a period of compulsory military service. everybody has a lot to say about the desirability of peace, but no one does anything about it. an obvious thing to do would be to abolish conscription everywhere. this would be the first step towards universal peace.
some countries, like britain, have already abandoned peace-time conscription. unfortunately, they haven’t done so for idealistic reasons, but from a simple recognition of the fact that modern warfare is a highly professional business. in the old days, large armies were essential. there was strength in numbers; ordinary soldiers were cannon fodder. but in these days of inter-continental ballistic missiles, of push-button warfare and escalation, unskilled manpower has become redundant. in a mere two years or so, you can’t hope to train conscripts in the requirements and conditions of modern warfare. so why bother? leave it to the professionals!there are also pressing personal reasons to abolish conscription. it is most unpleasant in times of peace for young men to grow up with the threat of military service looming over their heads. they are deprived of two of the best and most formative years of their lives. their careers and studies are disrupted and sometimes the whole course of their lives is altered. they spend at least two years in the armed forces engaged in activities which do not provide them with any useful experience with regard to their future work. it can’t even be argued that what they learn might prove valuable in a national emergency. when they leave the services, young men quickly forget all the unnecessary information about warfare which they were made to acquite. it is shocking to think that skilled and unskilled men are often nothing more than source of cheap labour for the military.
some people argue that military service ‘ does you good’. ‘ two years in the army,’ you hear people say, ‘will knock some sense into him.’ the opposite is usually the case. anyone would resent being pushed about and bullied for two years, all in the name of ‘discipline’. the military mind requires uniformity and conformity. people who do not quite fit into this brutal pattern suffer terribly and may even emerge with serious personality disorders. there are many wonderful ways of spending two years. serving in the armed forces is not one of them!