In Germany you can register as a conscientous objector to military service. Students are also exempt for the duration. As an option of last resort, emigration.
this post was submitted on 04 Apr 2024
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I feel what is missing is the larger debate what kind of defense we actually want, in particular with regards to the EU. What do we want our military to be in a few years. The 'how do we get there' part should come after that.
The question is what kind of defense the EU can afford.
The EU can, by definition, afford more than any individual member can. Obviously defense would need to be handled by a separate budget but uncoordinated defense strategies for every member are certainly worse.
2% of GDP is about 20% of the annual budget, which is not sustainable these days. 3% is ludicrous.
Not sure what you are trying to say and how it relates to whether EU member states all do their own uncoordinated thing with their money or pool that very same money to do something coordinated on the EU level for defense.
2% of GDP is a minimum ask for spending for NATO members. It looks small, but 2% of GDP is 20% of the annual budget which is not elastic, unless you consider the bulk which is social spending omittable. The general public will soon convince you it's not.
Coordinated anything doesn't work because modern wars are about infrastructure and logistics. Hence the 2% per member scaling.