The Politics of Conscription...

[Veylon]

Fascism != Racism. Fascism refers to the Fasces, a bundle of equipment for torture and execution that represents the power of the state over it's people. Racism is not necessarily part of that.

In any case, even the most virulently racist regimes have found conscripting the alleged untermensch to be useful. They can be used as cannon fodder, logistics, flank defense, or rear-area security to free up the ubermensch for more important tasks. The German army employed millions of Slavs for such work on the Eastern Front.

 

[Soveru]

2) Illusion of security - Lets face it. If your country just has a few million people and is surrounded by countries 20 to 30 times your size, no amount of conscription will help.

Technology and training is superior to numbers, especially in modern warfare. Two years is more than enough to train soldiers to a high standard, and they will always retain at least some knowledge of that training in case there's a mobilisation in the future.

Besides, not having any army is inviting worse. Indonesia for instance has a long history of conquering other countries and colonising them. Chances are that if Singapore had not been British, and didn't have a standing army, you'd be answering to Jakarta by now.

I agree that technology does help but our best defense is probably from our military alliances. If Indonesia really wanted to invade us, our army won't be able to stop them