ttbn,
Are you feeling OK? You've just written something I entirely agree with!

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Hasbeen,
>Most kids go off to uni, or some other training with very little idea of what they are doing, or want to do

Assuming for the sake of argument that this is true, you still run into some obvious problems:
Firstly, what about the minority who have decided what they want to do?
Secondly, what about those who, despite not yet knowing what they want to do, have already narrowed it down by identifying some things they definitely don't want to do?

>Any petals who think they are too good to get their hands dirty are certainly not worth wasting
>tens of thousands on putting through some pretend uni course such as Womens or Media studies,
>so they can get a job pen pushing in some totally useless government office.

You seem to be imagining it's a form of snobbery, but I think it's far more likely that they're simply not suited to that form of work. The idea that it's anything to do with how good they think they are is profoundly unAustralian.

And the courses you mention are not pretend at all. AIUI Media Studies is useful for increasing the effectiveness of communication. And Womens Studies helps to understand, and hence address, the problems that limit the participation of women in the workforce. I'd expect most graduates of those programs to work in marketing and HR respectively, mostly in the private sector, but I can see how they'd be useful in the public sector too.

Individual

So you want all this because you paid taxes. You have exposed yourself as a socialist, wanting the government to assume the responsibilities of parents - the people who should have instilled into their children the values you demand. Up to now, I thought that you wanted less political interference in people's lives, not more.

Do you really think that a political class that is too timid to introduce working for the dole - no work, no money - is going to introduce something as draconian as conscription, civil or military? Voters simply would not stand for their little darlings being made to do something they don't wish to do.

You are two generations too late to be talking guff about conscription, national service, or whatever you want to call it. It's all downhill from here. The world we have known is on the way out, and the people you think should be rounded up and forced to do what you think they should do, do not exist; nor do the people who would make them do what you want.

Of course, you might be around long enough to see socialism with 'Chinese characteristics' putting your theories into action.

«Any petals who think they are too good to get their hands dirty are certainly not worth wasting...»

This is not socialism - it is Machoism, including the idea that men must be rough, hardened and never cry - the very ideology of twin-petal Vladimir Putin.

While humans could adopt that attitude from their ape ancestors, ideas that were designed to suit survival in the very different world of 1-3 million years ago, fortunately very few Australians still subscribe to these primitive ideas.

people you think should be rounded up and forced to do what you think they should do, do not exist;
ttbn,
Are you suggesting Centrelink & unemployment benefits are not provided to people who choose not to be serious about seeking employment, the people I'm suggesting should be engaged ?
I did not say I expect Govt to parent them, I expect Govt to provide the opportunities for people to find employment or at least get them ready for employment asap. We are already swamped with 'educated' people who aren't competent enough to be gainfully employed because bureaucrats just as incompetent fail to provide the economic & social environment that goes with a supposedly fairly equal opportunity society.
A National Service is not as prison-like as you et al attempt to portray it as. A National Service is a gateway to a healthier mentality for young people than what many of the present useless & incompetent elders are cursed with.
A national Service is where young people can socialise without having to run the gauntlet of people of their parents' age stalking & exploiting them to part with their money !
Real socialising not the kind where they have to rely on advertising telling them they're having a good time !
I would like to see young people more socially & mentally apt than you & many posters here, myself included !

Asked the granddaughter tonight what she thought of finishing school next year, when she will turn 18 in 2024. Instead of going to collage, she can go to enforced "boot camp". No tripping off to Japan to broaden her arisen, experiencing culture and diversity, oh no, its bully beef and baked beans in the Individuals compulsory national service for you! She asked; "What would I be doing?".....I said; "Breaking rocks".

Indy, I don't think my granddaughter thinks much of your national service idea. She called you a CRETIN, she said to tell you, "GET A LIFE!" She's reading what I've written........ No my darling I can't write that, I'll be banned from the Forum,..... no that's not a good thing!

Paul1405,
Once your poor (by you) misguided granddaughter realises that I have never suggested that gainfully employed young people should have a gap year National Service experience she'll agree with my proposal, provided she has more sense than you which shouldn't be hard to achieve.
My proposal is for unemployed, homeless & those wishing to join the Public Service !
I'm not holding my breath waiting for you et al to get the gist !