# 12 Months a Slave
### Mandatory military service is nothing less than abuse. Psychological and physical.
In Greece, one of the countries that still hold mandatory conscription for all male citizens, the “service” is now being extended from 9 to 12 months. Despite things getting better since a few decades ago, when folks would serve for two years and nobody would care for any health issues, the system is still rotten. From young adults that just finished school to scientists that work in research, everybody has to pause their lives at some point, in order to be being yelled at by condescending buffoons in the name of freedom. For 12 months. How are you protecting your country’s freedom, by deserting your own? Are not countries made of people? Is a country free when its people are not?
A soldier is never free, that I can guarantee. Not even in times of peace. A soldier must not decide for himself when to talk, where to place his hands, how to sit down, whether to turn his head, when to drink water. Yet, his “superiors” will often refer pompously to him as *a man*, or a person that will become *a man* through military training. *A man* that needs permission to go to the toilet. The irony.
At least, soldiers are getting paid. In Greece, their monthly salary is ~8.60€. That is around 30 cents per day and they must be available 24/7. Not to mention the religious and nationalistic propaganda that comes with the army.
Obviously the military needs huge reforms, since we are cursed to maintain it. To my mind, the abolition of enforced conscription is the first logical step in a civilized society. The level of vain abuse one must endure in the army would not be accepted anywhere in the real world. Still, the public seems to tolerate it, even without real ways for the soldiers to defend themselves.
[[Original image](https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%95%CF%8D%CE%B6%CF%89%CE%BD%CE%B5%CF%82#/media/%CE%91%CF%81%CF%87%CE%B5%CE%AF%CE%BF:Evzone_Parliament_Greece_1.JPG) by Everlind, [CC BY 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/), edited by me, it reads “This is not tradition, it’s abuse”]
