<OT> One more reason I am glad I don't live in CA

[Roger Oberholtzer]

On Wed, 10 Mar 2004 09:11:01 -0600
Alma J Wetzker <almaw at ieee.org> wrote:

> Roger Oberholtzer wrote:
> > On Wed, 10 Mar 2004 10:09:47 +0800
> > Chong Yu Meng <chongym at cymulacrum.net> wrote:
> >>Matthew Carpenter wrote:
> >>>Sure.  And they should have made 2 years or more service mandatory for 
> >>>everyone, as soon as they complete HS (or drop out).
> > 
> > Even peaceful Sweden has mandatory military service. For the objectors,
> > time is spent serving in a hospital or other service. But two years it
> > will be.
> 
> I have a philosophical question about that.  Why do you need to spend two 
> years living off the government's coin before you can earn a living and
> pay taxes?

It is a chance for kids to see something outside school. It is very unusual
for someone to finish high school and then go straight to university. It is
very possible that there is a required space of time, during which you are
meant to do something else. Perspective and all that. If you travel the
world, ever wonder why there are all those damned Swedish kids between 18
and 20 roaming the airports of Kaula Lampur, Auckland and Bali?

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