The Russians Are Coming

cleavers said:
Sorry, I've worked for over 20 years alongside a young well trained and professional armed services, and they do some great work. Suggesting that all our youth are like that is plain wrong, they are also supported by dedicated civilians who provide great support. We also have thousands of cadets who joing to experience what the services might offer them.

Yes the country has it's fair share of so called "snowflakes", but I expect if the shit hit the fan, many of those would be happy to defend our country.
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Those that are currently serving or veterans I would agree with, but I doubt very much there would be many volunteers from young civilians to go and fight.
 
mosssideblue said:
Sorry mate, just don’t see that. We have become a nation of snowflakes sadly.
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It was ever thus though. We’ve always had suspicions and doubts about ‘youth’ when their major crime is that they’re young, unlike many of us and this idea that this generation of young people are somehow ‘worse’ than previous generations is nonsensical.

Lazy?
“Many young people were so pampered nowadays that they had forgotten that there was such a thing as walking, and they made automatically for the buses… unless they did something, the future for walking was very poor indeed.”
Scottish Rights of Way: More Young People Should Use Them, Falkirk Herald, 1951

Self obsessed?

“Whither are the manly vigour and athletic appearance of our forefathers flown? Can these be their legitimate heirs? Surely, no; a race of effeminate, self-admiring, emaciated fribbles can never have descended in a direct line from the heroes of Potiers and Agincourt...”
Letter in Town and Country magazine 1771
Generally terrible?
“We defy anyone who goes about with his eyes open to deny that there is, as never before, an attitude on the part of young folk which is best described as grossly thoughtless, rude, and utterly selfish.”
The Conduct of Young People, Hull Daily Mail, 1925
You can’t tell them anything?
“They think they know everything, and are always quite sure about it.”
Rhetoric Aristotle, 4th Century BC

Too cautious?
“It’s an irony, but so many of us are a cautious, nervous, conservative crew that some of the elders who five years ago feared that we might come trooping home full of foreign radical ideas are now afraid that the opposite might be too true, and that we could be lacking some of the old American gambling spirit and enterprise.”

But, also, too confident?
2017

“[Young people] are high-minded because they have not yet been humbled by life, nor have they experienced the force of circumstances.”
Rhetoric, Aristotle, 4th Century BC

They spend too much with little to show for it?
“The beardless youth… does not foresee what is useful, squandering his money.”
Horace, 1st Century BC
They’re completely self absorbed?
“Cinemas and motor cars were blamed for a flagging interest among young people in present-day politics by ex-Provost JK Rutherford… [He] said he had been told by people in different political parties that it was almost impossible to get an audience for political meetings. There were, of course, many distractions such as the cinema…”
Young People and Politics, Kirkintilloch Herald, 1938

They’re just lazy and not up for physical activities?

“…in youth clubs were young people who would not take part in boxing, wrestling or similar exercises which did not appeal to them. The ‘tough guy’ of the films made some appeal but when it came to something that led to physical strain or risk they would not take it.”
Young People Who Spend Too Much, Dundee Evening Telegraph, 1945
They can’t even express themselves in English?
“The Chairman alluding to the problem of young people and their English said his experience was that many did not seem able to express or convey to other people what they meant. They could not put their meaning into words, and found the same difficulty when it came to writing.”
Unable to Express Thoughts: Failing of Modern Young People, Gloucester Citizen, 1936
 
All those on the streets with their flags, body cams and the like would surely be the first to sign up? They’re always saying they want ‘are cuntry back’.

Get out there, and defend it!
 
TonyM said:
What's a snowflake? Or a nation of snowflakes?

I know we have a generation of lazy feckers who wouldn't lift a cup to help at home and bury their heads in phone watching eejits....but they seem no worse than the kids I grew up with in the 70s who had their own distractions and vices.
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Another word old people use to put down younger generations, based on nothing tangible,from the same page as woke, for anything about modern life they don’t like.
 
cleavers said:
They're not "coming" so there's currently no need for anyone to "sign up" unless they want to be part of a professional armed services, and plenty still do.
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Agree they're not coming but the debate was if they were would there be a rush to sign up.
Cannot speak for Army or RAF but certainly, the Navy cannot get people to join and are struggling to man the ships/subs we have as well as major retention issues.
 
I suspect that engaging in the global conflict of today/tomorrow will be far less about "boots on the ground". Cyber/DOS, remote-controlled drones, even winning the hearts-and-minds "battle" are all activities that would play well to the skills that younger people would bring.
 
mosssideblue said:
Cannot speak for Army or RAF but certainly, the Navy cannot get people to join and are struggling to man the ships/subs we have as well as major retention issues.
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They may not be able to have enough people, sure, but they are still getting people.

Until recently (retired now) I worked for 18 years in an office that was mostly RN, and the problem that was most common wasn't getting youngsters in, it was retention of more middle ranks, and this was more down to some of the people in senior roles, not appreciating what they have, and many in their late 20's can earn more money outside the service.

Another issue that seemed to crop up was the lack of interesting postings, youngsters used to join to get to "see the world", now they mostly get to see "land" (mostly in barracks in the UK), and that is a government problem, because the number of ships have dramatically reduced, and that is further disrupted by the number of maintenance issues they suffer from, so often stuck in dockyards.

So my experience isn't that youngsters don't join because of modern life, more that they don't stay because it's not as good a life as it used to be.

As for the army and air force, plenty still join (and are interested in joining - hence my comment about cadet forces earlier), but similar issues occur with retention, and in recent times particularly the sort of army postings were to wars that were seen as nothing to do with our country, where the youngsters were often cannon fodder in a foreign war.

One other thing, education, youngsters used to join the forces straight from school, but now they are often expected to have (or aim for at least) higher education, including university education, and that's simply not for everyone.
 
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