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> While the law requires men to request the permit, the spokesperson clarified, it also obliges the military career center to issue it, if "no specific military
by legitster 7mo ago
> While the law requires men to request the permit, the spokesperson clarified, it also obliges the military career center to issue it, if "no specific military service is expected during the period in question.”
> "Since military service under current law is based exclusively on voluntary participation, such permissions must generally be granted,” the official added.
> When asked, the ministry spokesperson pointed out that "the regulation was already in place during the Cold War and had no practical relevance; in particular, there are no penalties for violating it.”
- lazide 7mo agoAh, invasive extra paperwork (enforced by criminal penalties, at least in theory) for something they say on the surface they won’t actually need. So very german (hah)
- nine_k 7mo agoI suppose it's only a boring piece of extra paperwork until at some moment the permit stops being automatically issued.
- baxtr 7mo agoYou’ve never been to Germany, have you?
- rvnx 7mo agoGuess what, many jews self-reported themselves to the authorities just to follow the process and that led directly to their death. https://www.ushmm.org/online/hsv/source_view.php?SourceId=42011 https://www.ushmm.org/online/hsv/source_view.php?SourceId=42... Of course, this is old times now, but here is the same, there is no benefit to register, and you increase your risk to die. Don't do it.
- kstenerud 7mo agoWhen your own country is invaded, it changes the calculus.
- watwut 7mo agoIt is not like they had a choice. The article is about 1939, the events were well progressed then. Only very few were able to hide themselves and stay hidden for years.
- dudefeliciano 7mo ago> It is not like they had a choice. > very few were able to hide Not sure what point you are trying to make. Does that justify the law and its consequences? Does that mean people who did not register were doing something wrong or stupid?
- fhdkweig 7mo agoIn the United States, adult males have to sign up for the Selective Service for the same reason even though we haven't had conscription since the Vietnam War in the late 1970s(?). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_Service_System https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_Service_System
- voisin 7mo ago> Annual budget $31.3 million (FY 2024) If it hasn’t been used in 50 years, is there some other use for the registry or the organization or why hasn’t this been cut yet?
- fhdkweig 7mo agoKeeping it around just in case the US encounters an existential threat. You never know when it may happen.
- hdgvhicv 7mo agoProbably July by this rate
- delecti 7mo agoNobody wants to be the guy who got the nation caught with its pants down if conscription needs to come back in a hurry. The same reason the military budget always ratchets upwards.
- wat10000 7mo agoMeasured as a percentage of GDP (which I'd say is the most sensible way to measure it) the US's current military budget is lower than at any point since WWII aside from a few years between the end of the Cold War and 9/11.
- RandomLensman 7mo agoThe Army of the United States has also not been used in over 50 years,but does that mean it couldn't be used again?
- watwut 7mo agoThey dont need now. Germany is getting ready for being invaded by Russia, basically. They are also building mandatory military service.
- vasac 7mo agoYes, the previous time they were getting ready it was because those pesky Poles being an inch away from invading the Third Reich.
- RandomLensman 7mo agoCold war didn't happen (yes, USSR, not Russia)?
- sveme 7mo agoAre you implying that this is Germany getting ready to invade Poland?
- vasac 7mo agoI’m implying they aren’t getting ready because they think Russians are going to march on Berlin.
- vimbtw 7mo agoIt seems like the purpose is to have the law and all the paperwork set up as a precaution for the future. Sure, right now it’s all voluntary and just rubber stamping, but if in the future they need to do something like Ukraine and lock down travel for military aged men, it’s much easier to flip a switch and start denying travel permits rather than having to set up and fund an entirely new system for requiring travel permits.
- RandomLensman 7mo agoIf it were to get closer to war (i.e., Spannungsfall, let alone the Verteidigungsfall) a set of laws would unlock that allow control of various areas of life and the economy anyway.
- xg15 7mo agoInterestingly, the travel permit requirement already existed in law before, but it was tied to the Spannungsfall/Verteidigungsfall conditions. This new law removed this condition and preemptively "activated" the requirement even before the Spannungsfall was declared.
- shikon7 7mo agoAlso, in that case, they know where all the men currently are, which is probably the main reason to implement it now. m
- echoangle 7mo agoWell that’s the thing, they won’t know because nobody will do the registration until it’s actually enforced.
- fph 7mo agoWriting prompt: On June 1, the ministry for defense stops issuing these permits. No one knows why, but wild speculation ensues.
- sveme 7mo agoIt was already a thing back when I was doing compulsory service (end of the nineties), but no one cared and no one was ever asked for it.
- nkmnz 7mo agoNot true. Back then, limitations on "Spannungsfall" and "Verteidigungsfall" were in place which have been removed last year. The real news, though, is that the public (media, opposition parties) didn't noticed until a couple of days ago.
- dundarious 7mo agoPreviously it was conditional, only in effect “in the event of tension or defense” (machine translation), but they are very exceptional circumstances -- AFAIK not ever invoked since unification. The change this year was to make it applicable regardless of those conditions: “Outside the tension or defense case, §§ 3 [...]” shall apply. This is a significant change from the previous Cold War policy. I have talked about the definition of these terms in another comment, with another news article as source.
- jdthedisciple 7mo agoIdk why you are being downvoted, what you said is factually correct.
- dundarious 7mo agoI'm always eager to be corrected if wrong. Such replies welcome.