Summary:
In many countries around the world, conscription is questionable. Colonel R J Blythe (2010) is the author of “Bring back conscription” believes that going to military should be compulsory because of the benefits which bring to the individual and society. On the other hand, Dennis De Souza (2010) argues in “Conscription? No way!” that people should not be forced into conscription because it might not be necessary and there are always other alternative services. Firstly, both of these authors agree that when people take conscription, they will be taught self-discipline and a number of useful life skills such as teamwork and leadership. Blythe supposes that people can test themselves throughout the physical and mental challenges. Whereas, De Souza argues that the army has interesting recruitment such as ‘Join the Army and see the world’ or ‘ Learn a new skill in the Army’ but does not mentions about any negative things such as killing people or being killed. In the second argument, Blythe claims that people can gain practical job-related skills which will be taught by top professionals and these skills will be useful in the real life after military services. From De Souza’s point of view, he states that focusing on building a strong army can lead to the unnecessary threats to the country’s neighbors and it might end up triggering a war between the countries. Thirdly, Blythe also states that conscription is gain more knowledge and have wider perspective, he supports his idea that it lead to “a more tolerant society”. On the other hand, De Souza emphasizes that the army should upgrade the condition of the army and conscription is not the only way to contribute the society. This essay will analyze the strength and weakness of both authors’ arguments.

Discussion:

The perspectives of these two authors are very different. Blythe’s argument is quite strong