Dear Indyvidual,

«there is simply no alternative to such a service.»

Castration!

Even chop off other limbs as that would still be relatively kinder to the victims¹.

«Without discipline & a focus on discipline a Nation is not a free Nation !»

Well and good - I would like to see free people, not free nations, in fact there should ideally not be any nations to begin with.
If I ever wanted to suffer a nation, terrorising both young and old, then I could just as well invite China to take over - they are quite good at it!

---
¹ the question remains, though, whether it would also be sufficiently stimulating and satisfying for the tormentor who started this thread

Hasbeen said- Yes ttbn, rather than wasting our time electing politicians, we should be electing all judges & magistrates. Perhaps if they had to stand for reelection every 4 years or so, they would give sentences more in line with what the paying public want.

Answer- I've never been a fan of the idea of voting for state court judges as in the American uncontested system but I have to admit it sounds like it may produce better judges and legal decisions than we have in Australia now- but I'd have to investigate how judges are appointed in Australia.

I suppose the same could be done in consideration of the chief of police and other senior bureaucratic positions.

http://www.kcet.org/news-community/ballot-brief/when-and-why-we-vote-for-judges

It appears that judges in Australia are appointed by the juresdictions government and have tenure. Perhaps the tenure system is an issue at Universities too and the cause of a loss of touch with the traditions (and fashions) of the electorate and become more a self serving echo chamber. At times the electorates fashions perhaps do need to be managed. And tenure at times probably stops official roles from becoming corrupted by foreign nations- as well as attracting better people- in theory. I suppose in universities the attraction of the multi-billion dollar foreign student industry is always going to corrupt other considerations. Attributed to Lenin- "capitalists will sell communists the rope to hang them with". I suppose the rope in this case is immigration under the guise of selling education! Neither free trade nor free culture is good- freedom must be balanced with responsibility!

I suspect that the knowledgeable feel that the whole Australian governing structure needs to be reviewed but who would control the review- probably the wrong people??

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judiciary_of_Australia

Thanks for raising this interesting issue Hasbeen- Kudos.

Indy wants his own version of Hitler Youth. There are many Old Farts who would support that idea, considering they would not have to take part themselves. Now my idea of a "Seniors National Service" they are not so keen on, for the obvious reasons. In my SNS there would be a special OLO Patoon with Indy up front, ttbn, Hassy, CM, Issy in the ranks and mhaze bring up the rear.

Punishment is what these little bastards need,
ttbn,
That's what the service is for the young brats. For the decent young it's an experience they'll cherish & build their life on !

Paul1405,
Your kind of mentality is what caused the desperate need for more discipline, respect & diligence in the first place so, please refrain from offering advise, you don't have any !

indy,
From where do you get the delusion that the decent young would regard national service more favourably? Do you imagine that having done no wrong would somehow make them LESS resentful of the government taking away their freedom?

Hi Aidan,

We had National Service during the Vietnam War, Indy missed out, but when he became eligible for military service, surprise, surprise, he didn't join up. I think he was like that toe rag Little Johnny who was all for the war, but when he came eligible, well, pissed off to London. Then there was 'Pig Iron' Bob, the founder of the Liberal Party, who was aged between 19 and 23 during WWI, All for the War, King and Country and all that patriotic BS. Although 90% of males that age volunteered, 'Pig Iron' Bob failed to do so.

One thing about Menzies, in 1938 he returned from a two week trip to Germany with glowing reports about the virtues of Nazism, but he was disappointed he hadn't been able to meet the Fuhrer's personally. Can't have everything in life you want.