I agree, that we are past the point where we can say "West is weak, because it's like Rome vs barbaric tribes". That kind of intuiton ceased to be practical at some point during development of the civilzation and technology.

A bit silly, but still example:
I know today, that I shouldn't hit or scream at my kid when he is misbehaving. Even though that first reflex or intution tells me to. Because it will solve problem only in short-term, but will generate even bigger problem in long-term.
I wouldn't know that 200 years ago.

Similary, you don't need to fake being a "big bear with big fangs" or be aggresive person, to be considered dangerous.
You need to be clever and stand your ground firmly instead. That's todays way.

the west does seem to be going soft. definitely a lack of masculinity.
and in this regards russia is irrelevant, if it wasn't them it would just be some other nation or peoples ready to pounce.

You do seem to be fixated on transgender issues don't you?

You do know it's perfectly possible to change your user name on EF to something... more appropriate for you?

i think maybe overly naive. getting in a position where very vulnerable to russian energy. believing putin that he isn't going to invade as he builds up more and more forces on the border. believing that russia will stand back and do nothing while trying to bring neighbouring countries under nato/eu influence. the invasion is a wake-up call to be more realistic.

Many western armies already complain that teenage conscripts and new recruits are already soft, in many cases obese and simply don't have the stamina that their fathers and forefathers displayed during the 20th century; largely due to them being 'couch potatoes' glued to Netflix, laptops, mobiles and ipads
along with a general abhorance to many forms of manual labour or strenuous sport.

I agree.
It is claimed the Russians are doing better now around Severodonetsk because their assaults are being led by Wagner group mercenaries who are combat veterans and believed to be better trained than the Russian army; no conscripts or reluctant new recruits.
Probably just propaganda but with some elements of truth

Rubbish. Source? Western "armies" by and large have long ago moved to professional and not conscript armies and if you compare the purely military performance of western armies vs. russian military performance on the battlefields in the past 20 years, it's the russians that seem weak and mellow, not the west. In fact, in the few known public instances when western armies clashed with russians, the russians were absolutely annihilated (there were a few such instances in Syria)

EU cracks widen over Ukraine as Italy, Hungary urge truce
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe...source=twitter

The Sun - Thousends of soldiers are too fat to fight, report reveals

Forces News - Almost one in ten British troops are Clinically Obese

Your claim was that TODAY'S soldiers are less fit than the previous generations of soldiers. Neither of your links supports this claim. Hence, I stand by my challenge.

Read my post - I specifically said teenage conscripts and and new or raw recruits.

It's quite sad when I need to remind you what YOU said. Read the bolded part.

None of this is supported by the links you provided, thus I stand by my challenge.

the fact that many modern (western) militaries have lowered entrance requirements shows how much standards have fallen.

another reason could be that young people nowadays don't prefer to have a short career as cannon fodder, working in an old-fashioned extremely hierarchical organization for low money.

Have it your own way but I beg to differ as I reckon that the millennial generation are ( less fit than their forefathers ) thanks to convenience food, diet, lack of stamina, rising levels of obesiity etc, etc, everything being handed to them on a plate; rather than them having to go out and graft like their fathers and forefathers did.

I should know because I lived through what my father and grandfathers lived through and it was all through hard graft.

That is your opinion to which you're entitled, the problem is you stated it as a fact. At least we agree it's not a fact, but merely a subjective opinion. The fact is, western armies are better equipped, more experienced, better motivated and more successful on the battle field than the russian army is. This is a fact, not an opinion

These Western countries still have military conscription by law;
Austria
Cyprus
Denmark
Finland
Greece
Lithuania
Norway
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey

Although they do not all enforce the law.

Turkey is not a western country. The majority of the rest allow for civil service rather than active military service, which is very different from the active duty in Russia. Moreover, it's typically only a few months, rarely a year and I think only Cyprus is really enforcing it and still has it quite long for obvious reasons (conflict with Turkey)

they're still doing the same career though. just the entry requirements have gotten easier. police force too.

And yet, we have less and less crime in the west