Shocking Headline Of The Day: Germany To Re-Introduce Slavery

Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,

Young Germans will have to choose between the Bundeswehr (military service) and unpaid social service work. Libertarians to a person, will call this slavery, because that is what it is.

Germany to Re-Introduce Slavery

Please consider the Eurointelligence headline story Germany to Re-Introduce Slavery

The headline might be bordering on the hysterical, but the big idea in German politics right now is to re-introduce the general draft. This is not happening because Germany expects to be at war. It is not about the military at all. Under the plans, young people, male and female, can choose between the Bundeswehr or a year of forced labour in the social services, essentially uncompensated.

The main reason we see is that their fiscal rules have depleted them with the resources to fund the Bundeswehr and critical social services like old-age care. For example, there is a big row going on right now within the coalition currently between Boris Pistorius, the defence minister, and Christian Lindner, over Pistorius’ demands for another €6bn for the Bundeswehr. The discussions on the reintroduction of the draft are at an early stage. They won’t affect the current budget dispute. But it could go some way to fix the Bundeswehr’s budget issues.

The SPD leader Lars Klingbeil sugar-coated the idea as giving young people an opportunity to serve the state at one point in their lives. Another underlying assumption is that young people are infinitely stupid. German high school goes until the age of 19. This is higher than elsewhere because German children do not start school until they are 6. With a year of enforced military or social services, they won’t start their studies or apprenticeship until they are 20. A Bachelor’s degree takes three, but this is usually not sufficient. So they will be 24 or 25 when they hit the labour market. This puts them at a distinct disadvantage to young people elsewhere.

We expect mass emigration as a result. Young Ukrainian men who try to escape the draft often do so at the risk of their lives. Romanian police have discovered bodies of young Ukrainians trying to swim through the Tisa river into Romania. Young Germans won’t have to swim through the Rhine. They can just go anywhere within the Schengen area, and study where they like. For a country that is facing structural labour shortages, the re-introduction of the draft is about the worst policy decision imaginable. The smart people will leave.

The political support is strengthening. The FDP has called for it. The SPD is also now in favour. The CDU says it is open to a discussion. The AfD will naturally support it. The Greens and the Left Party are opposed, but that won’t be enough to stop it.

Not an “Opportunity”

What’s being proposed is not an opportunity. It’s a mandate for servitude.

I don’t know if it would pass, but Eurointelligence knows more about the internals of German politics than anyone else, so I expect forced servitude is on a train for passage at the moment.

Mass emigration would undoubtedly be the result. Who wants to give up four years of their life taking care of immigrants, elderly, or preparing for war?

And the more you prepare for war, the more like it is. Vietnam would not have happened without a draft. Mass protests finally ended it.

Liberty at Stake

I replied to a reader moments ago, about unalienable Rights, before I saw the Eurointelligence story.

In response to Hospitals Turn to Pay In Advance, In Full a reader said there was a “right” to healthcare.

I responded there was no such right.

From the Declaration of Independence “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

I love the wording “unalienable” and “self-evident”. No one can take those rights away.

I oppose the draft and support anyone anywhere, especially Ukrainians, who decides is is their unalienable right to “liberty” and “pursuit of happiness”, no matter what the government of Ukraine says and does.

Vivek Ramaswamy

I seriously cannot understand why many alleged Libertarians support Vivek Ramaswamy.

For example, Vivek Ramaswamy, the youngest GOP presidential candidate, wants civics tests for young voters 18 to 24

Though he’s campaigning as the “young” candidate, Ramaswamy would like to make it a little harder for the nation’s youngest voters to cast a ballot. 

He’s proposing a constitutional amendment that would require citizens 18 to 24 to pass a civics test in order to vote — the same one immigrants take to become naturalized U.S. citizens. Under his proposal, young Americans could, as an alternative, perform six months of military or first-responder service. But if none of these requirements are met, they would have to wait until they turn 25 before they could vote in their first election.

The Ramaswamy campaign emphasized that this isn’t a plan to raise the voting age because younger voters would still be able to participate if they met the requirements. But Ramaswamy has previously used language that explicitly stated he would try to raise the voting age. 

“People like Vivek Ramaswamy who are using their age as an element to try and stand out to Gen-Z, they’re very obviously wolves in sheep’s clothing,” said Lucas Robinson, a young voter from Texas. “People our age can really see through people like that.”

Savanah Now comments “It’s worth noting that Politico reported this year that even Ramaswamy’s own campaign staff didn’t like the idea. The Washington Post reports that younger conservatives don’t like it.”

Of course, younger voters don’t like it. And if Trump was dumb enough to pick Vivek as his running mate, it could easily cost Trump the election.

From Vivek2024.Com “The United States faces a 25% recruitment deficit in the military and just 16% of Gen Z say they’re proud to be American. The absence of national pride is a serious threat to our Republic’s survival. At a time when young Americans are taught to celebrate their differences, Civic Duty Voting – and in particular the service path – creates a sense of shared purpose and experience. Serving your nation, knowing something about your nation, or at least living in your nation for a short time as an adult isn’t too much to ask. Our lost civic pride won’t reappear automatically. Reviving it will require boldness.”

If that does not sound like support for a draft, what does?

Flashback to the 60s

Also consider Vivek Ramaswamy wants young voters to pass a civics test. These Americans call it a flashback to the 1960s.

Today, some Black Americans say Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s proposal to implement a civics test for voters ages 18 to 24 gives them flashbacks to the hurdles.

Though the 15th amendment guaranteed the right for Black men to vote, some Southern states passed literacy test requirements and offered exemptions for white people after the Civil War, Olga Koulisis, assistant professor of history at Murray State University, explained.

Vivek Could Not Pass His Own Civics Test

AP News comments: Nikki Haley promises to send American special forces into Mexico. Vivek Ramaswamy has accused Mexico’s leader of treating drug cartels as his “sugar daddy” and says that if he is elected president, “there will be a new daddy in town.”

Politico quotes Vivek: Using military force on cartels without Mexico’s permission “would not be the preferred option, but we would absolutely be willing to do it,” entrepreneur and conservative activist Vivek Ramaswamy said in an interview.

Bombing Mexico to stop the drug trade, a clear act of war. It’s not the preferred method, but’s that’s OK, he would do it anyway.

Vivek could not pass his own civics test on who gets to declare war. Notably, his position is close to that of Nikki Haley.

Vivek, Not a Libertarian

Vivek is no Libertarian. He’s a charlatan who all along had a single mission, running for Vice President.

A draft, or forced servitude by any means, is in direct conflict with the unalienable right to liberty. Thus, anyone who says they believe in unalienable rights but supports a draft under any circumstances either does not understand the word unalienable or is a liar,