To the bone

In Finland, every healthy male person has a liability to military service. There are three kinds of service duration: 6 months, 9 months and 12 months. However, if you don't want to go through the standard armed service period, you can also choose non-military service, which lasts a year and where you'll be trained to work nearly free for the country. Or, if you as a male person don't want to choose any, you'll be sent to prison for nearly a year for total objection. I bet something in our system totally sucks when people are forced to choose one of these three choices just because they're born male.

Well, a dear friend of mine, K, went to the army today. He wasn't very excited and yeah, I can imagine why: you'll lose a year of perfect working or studying time just because the system wants so. K attended the 6-month-period, because it's the easiest way to get rid of this odd forcing. I really hope he's doing fine there now.

I've always thought that in Western countries people shall have the right to orient as they wish, not as somebody else wishes. But that doesn't come true at all here in the North! I bet if we gave every citizen, male or female, the right to choose their directions by themselves, there could still be an army for those who are oriented for that and other paths for others to follow.

This blip, photographed and written by me, a mostly Finnish female, is my non-violent counterpunch against forcing any people to grab a rifle or gun just because they're born male or any other "reason". I admit, I'm a pacifist to the bone, but I don't want to insist other people with different views to follow this path. I just want that everybody had the same freedom to choose.