Will this become a thing? In Germany, there is discussion about the possibility of conscripting young men into military service by lottery. Proponents argue that a lottery would relieve the burden on the majority, equalise opportunities and avoid a blanket obligation. Symbolically, all people of a certain age who are fit for military service are thrown into a pot and those who are “due” are drawn. Viewed abstractly, this should appear objective: no class privilege, no evasion through connections, no buying one’s way out, as was once the case in the German Empire.
But on closer inspection, this claim of equality does not hold up. Chance is not justice. It merely replaces a clearly justified selection process with blindness. And it ignores the factors that would actually be decisive: Who is mentally fit? Who already has family responsibilities? Who is studying, who is caring for relatives, who is socially engaged? Who can – and who should? However, there will certainly be enough exceptions – as is typical of German legislation.
There is also a second problem: the lottery shifts responsibility. It relieves the state of its moral obligation to justify its actions – and deprives citizens of the opportunity to consciously say “yes” or “no”. Duty is not explained, it is drawn by lot. Politically clever, democratically questionable.
If the state sees defence as a task for society as a whole, then what is needed is an open debate, not a lottery drum. The Americans already had this as part of their programme in the 1970s:
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