re: #90 austin_blue

Lots of countries have mandatory military service, Israel, for example. They seem to muddle through.

They aren’t military dictatorships. Heinlein said later in life that he was talking about citizens having skin in the game before they could vote. It’s a valid point.

Yeah, he did mention that you could be in other positions. It’s worth remembering that the world the book is set in is responding to the threat of annihilation, so of course being in the military was pretty much where able bodied people went.