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I’m 18 — and facing jail because I won’t fight for Israel (www.thetimes.co.uk)

submitted 9 months ago by naturalgasbad@lemmy.ca to c/worldnews@lemmy.ml

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[-] Dasus@lemmy.world 5 points 9 months ago

Oh man. Totaalikieltäytyminen is so easy nowadays, god damn.

I served II/09 so it's been a while.

Thanks for the info. Guess the mad bastards managed it then, because I did hang around totari people as well, and that's where I actually learned this idea. Because he had counted prison capacity in Finland and it was something like 1-3% of every batch who would need to say "nope" and they just wouldn't fit into prison anymore.

I really would like to know the details of when this was on the board being discussed.

First good news I've heard today, ty man.

[-] mojofrododojo@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Totaalikieltäytyminen

total refusal. gnarly.

I get that conscription is bad; Finland doesn't (to my knowledge) have a history of feeding conscripts into wars. Do you mind discussing why you avoided it? just curious. I joined the mil to pay for edu, which is one of the primary intake paths for US soldiers. Always looked at it as a gamble but it mostly paid off for me, except hearing loss lol.

edit: derp, you served. doh - uh, the people you hung out with? what were their feelings I guess

[-] Dasus@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

I didn't?

Also, that is the direct translation, yes, but a more accurate (context wise) would be conscientious objector.

I'm a supply core NCO in the reserves, served 362 days. I went in the second batch of 2009. That's why I said "I served II/09"

I don't think conscription is bad at all. It was one of the best years of my life.

Especially because ours is very much flexible and has options like unarmed service or civil service. (And with Russia neighbouring us with a long border, a conscription army is needed.) The only thing is that currently it only applies to males (and you can be excused for several reasons, like being a Jehova's witness). It's flexible when you do your conscription as well. Many people go to uni before the army. Not most, but many. And if you're for instance a competitor in a sport on a high level, you'll can get lots of free days from the time you serve. Some people like Kimi Räikkönen or Jarkko Nieminen for instance did "serve" their conscription, but in reality it was them going in for a few days/weeks every now and then when they had the time.

I would've never joined the American military, had I been American.

I believe in defending my country, not attacking others.

[-] FreeFacts@sopuli.xyz 1 points 8 months ago

For me, I also served my full time in the Finnish army because I was a coward. Back then, in the year 2000, they still put you in actual prison. (Well, minimum security one where convicts are allowed to work and study outside the facility on weekdays, but still prison). But even bigger deterrent than that was the lie that future employer would not hire you if you did not go through military service. That was a complete lie, it is actually illegal for them to ask about your service, and I haven't included my military service record voluntarily either in my CV since the early 2000s and nobody has cared. And there is also a law which dictates that if you are sentenced as conscientious objector ("totaalikieltäytyminen"), that does not go to your criminal record, so that stays clean as well.

But why I was contemplating refusing military service, and civilian service too, was and is completely ideological. I do wish to protect and fight for the good things in this country (democracy, civil liberties, equality) against outside invader (which would obviously be Russia, and they have none of those things), but the fact that conscription is forced labour without pay just doesn't fit right with me. It's basically slavery, and that should be opposed, always, everywhere.