Reply #41: It wasn't just military service ...

[sarge43]

In the book, Heinlein made it very clear service did not have to be military.

The premise was in order to have the responsibility and privilege of franchise and the right to hold public office, a person had to show a willingness to do some sort of service to the society in return. So, anyone who wanted their franchise could volunteer for two years of what amounted to community service. If a ninety-three year old blind, deaf paraplegic decided she wanted to vote, she signed up, did her two and was then was franchised. During her two, some sort of meaningful work was found for her to do. As one character said, (paraphrasing) 'If all they can do is count the hairs on caterpillars, we'll find a lab that's studying caterpillars and they'll work there.' Only two restrictions -- the person had to be 18 and s/he had to put in the full two to get the vote. No bailing and hiding out in Alabama.

Military service was much more restricted. Obviously, the ninety-three year old wouldn't be accepted because (1) "Everybody jumps." and (2) if the person went the military route, s/he had to put in 20 years before they could vote.

Don't be put off by the science fiction label, just because the setting is in space, that doesn't make a story scifi per se. It is superficially Boy's Life juvie fiction, but some interesting ideas embedded under the mayhem.