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Bodo Ramelow (right) with Frank-Walter Steinmeier (archive picture)
Photo: KH / imago / Karina Hessland
Alternative or alternative service has been abolished in Germany for more than a decade, analogous to conscription.
Since the weekend, however, there has been a new discussion about a comparable service for young people in the country.
In this debate about compulsory social service, Federal Council President Bodo Ramelow (left) drew parallels with compulsory schooling.
"Instead of just reflexively just picking on the Federal President and talking about new coercion and simply ignoring compulsory schooling, I advocate looking at the topic with a little more composure," Ramelow told the dpa news agency.
Compulsory schooling is also a compulsion and the state intervenes in the lives of young people.
He wondered why one could not "define" another year.
At the weekend, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier initiated a debate about compulsory social service.
Greens and FDP in the federal government had reacted negatively to the proposal.
The head of the left-wing parliamentary group, Dietmar Bartsch, also positioned himself against a social obligation.
(You can find out more about this topic in the detailed analysis here)
There is a little more public restraint in the SPD, Steinmeier's party, although there, too, enthusiasm for compulsory service is limited.
However, one does not want to stab the comrade in the back, protest comes mainly from the ranks of the Jusos.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, on the other hand, advocated at least discussing the idea “without old reflexes”.
Ramelow: »It can be social, it can be ecological«
Ramelow had repeatedly spoken out in favor of a mandatory period for young adults in the past.
In his opinion, this could mean a period of between nine and twelve months for everyone between the ages of 18 and 25.
"It can be social, it can be ecological, it can be military," he said.
It is important that it is not a lost year - but can be recognized, for example, in an apprenticeship.
In the interview with the “Bild am Sonntag”, Steinmeier had generally spoken of a mandatory time, not explicitly for young people.
"It's about the question of whether it wouldn't be good for our country if women and men put themselves in the service of society for a certain period of time," said the head of state.
jok/dpa
