A few years ago me and my mate were talking about conscription and we realized that we’re now too old to go to war.  That glory and horror of mankind throughout history has somehow passed us by.

It could be that, as Pinker says, the world is more peaceful now.  Or that we lived through a rare, quiet bubble.  Or maybe mechanized warfare needs fewer men than before.

Whatever the case, we got off scott free.  No one invaded Australia the whole time we were young and living there.

My grandfather fought in Papua New Guinea.  My father was conscripted for Vietnam but Australia pulled out of the war before he had to go.  The closest I came was Read More