Posted on 01/18/2009 12:14:09 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Thirty years ago, future U.S. Sen. Harris Wofford led the committee that concluded that year-long mandatory civilian-service programs were politically infeasible. Wofford, however, did not give up on the idea. And as the nation prepares to mark tomorrow's annual Martin Luther King Day of Service, maybe what was infeasible then is workable today.
What's changed? The economy, for one thing. Consider City Year.
City Year corps members, young adults ages 17 to 24, volunteer for a year of service in cities throughout the country - usually in public schools - and receive a college scholarship in return. It was described to me as an "urban Peace Corps" by David L. Cohen, executive vice president of Comcast, which is a community partner of City Year.
Cohen also told me something else of interest. With the economy in the tank, and the end nowhere in sight, City Year has seen its applications increase threefold in the last year. Which got me thinking.
Maybe our economy would be well-served using a portion of the $800 billion-plus recovery package for mandatory service programs.
We know that the unemployment rate rose to 7.2 percent in December, and the biggest jump came among workers ages 16 to 19. Their jobless rate is 20.8 percent, up from 16.9 percent in December 2007. The rate among 20- to 24-year-olds is 12.1 percent (it was 9.2 percent the year before). By comparison, 6 percent of workers ages 25 to 54 are out of work today.
Granted, the unemployment rate for younger workers is traditionally higher than that of the rest of the workforce. But we don't have to ignore its continued rise, especially when there is a worthwhile alternative.
Here's what else we know: Time magazine reported that more than 61 million Americans accounted for 8.1 billion volunteer hours in 2006 - numbers that have been on a steady rise for 20 years.
Long before he was president-elect, Barack Obama advocated expanding AmeriCorps and doubling the Peace Corps. "This will be a cause of my presidency," he said back when the unemployment rate was a relatively tame 4.9 percent. John McCain, a man who knows something about service, has struck similar notes.
Then, there's the e-mail I received last week from Arianna Huffington, who is urging her Huffington Post network of bloggers and pundits to "leverage your following" by signing on for a specific commitment of service and urging readers, viewers and listeners to do the same via a newly developed Facebook application.
The point? Many young people need jobs, the nation is buzzing with calls to service, and Americans are willing to listen. So why not up the ante by offering service programs backed by the federal government?
Many years after initiating this discussion, Wofford shared with me his current vision for how it might work:
"I want to see a year or more of full-time, active-duty citizen service, either in the military or civilian service, become a common expectation of young people, and favor a system of universal registration at age 18, with a lottery draft to fill the needs of the armed forces if voluntary recruitment is not adequate, but with a civilian-service option for anyone whose number is called," he told me this week.
If you want to serve the country in the armed forces, that's an honorable choice. But if not, how about something like City Year?
Not a fan of universal registration - especially as it applies to community service? Let's insert an economic quid pro quo into the equation. Tying service to college loans is one proposal.
I also like the idea of granting each American baby a sum of money to remain untouched (and earn interest) until he or she turns 18 or 20 years old. If the young adult fulfills a year of service in the military or an organization such as Teach for America or City Year, he or she can access the fund to help pay for college or start a business. If not, the federal government gets it back.
That way, the program isn't mandatory. But it is more viable - for both the country and its citizens.
And given the state of the economy - and, perhaps more significantly, the pessimism it pushes out into America via newspapers, radios and television - we can use all the viability we can get.
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Michael Smerconish's column appears Thursdays in the Daily News and Sundays in Currents. He can be heard from 5 to 9 a.m. weekdays on "The Big Talker," WPHT-AM (1210). Contact him via www.mastalk.com.
“It’s called involuntary servitude and it’s unconstitutional.”
Bingo. It’s right there in the 13th amendment:
“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime where of the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”
Neither the U.S. government nor the various state governments have the authority to hold citizens for mandatory service. I have my doubts as to whether the draft is constitutional, but at least there is the Congressional power to “raise armies”.
What is the Red Pioneers?
The sad thing is. . . in college he WAS a conservative: we were both members of the Lehigh University College Republicans back then . . . back when being openly conservative was still thoughtcrime. .
No idea what happened since. . .
Hillary had this same thing planned years ago.
Actually, I should say he stormed A beach of Normandy. He didn’t go back in the water and head toward Omaha after he was done at Utah, or anything.
Well you do live in a rural are, not a group think place like LA or NYC. The cities which will rule us from this time forward, or at least as soon as O gets through with the one man/one vote thingy. It’s coming, watch for it!
There are obvious problems here. First...if you figure the typical cost of having a first year GI around....we are talking around $15k for room and board, with medical insurance covered and transportation cost. Add in the leadership costs...a real “sarge” will be $80k in salary and benefits. Figure for each twenty of these “sarges”, a commander who is making $120k in salary and benefits.
Forced agendas for the volunteer force? You could end up forcing some southern kid into some California AIDS assistance program....which he doesn’t want any part of. You could have a dozen right-wing guys show up at some Nat’l Park program...who won’t tolerate liberal leadership....do you “fire” them?
The year of offered college? We are starting to prove now that numerous colleged-degree folks are not finding jobs...nor does the college really ensure anything. We have college-mills which are simply pumping out a four-year degree piece of paper, but the kid really doesn’t have the background or education that you’d expect.
I think this activism concept will be a hot topic for the entire year, but thankfully, we are in the midst of the worst economic situation in fifty years....so the funding is going to Ford, GM and Chrysler....rather than these idiot volunteer program folks. If you got to flush the cash on a Ford LTD or a volunteer organizer program....lets go for the Ford LTD.
I've been wondering if Smerconish lost his conservative radio audience. After all, liberals are watching the Today Show or Good Morning America that time of day.
“I always hated how this sort of crap was called “giving back.” Exactly what did I take from “the community” that merits me “giving back?””
Excellent point. How about starting the program with EVERYONE who took Food Stamps, Welfare, and Public Housing for a period of over 1 year. They could give back to the community for all that they’ve taken.
If a young person wants money from the government to attend college, then this is a viable option. However, if someone does NOT want this, preferring, instead, to take out loans for their education, they shouldn’t be FORCED to serve in any capacity.
Answering phones at Planned Parenthood = service
Answering phones at Crisis Pregnancy Center = no way
I could go on forever.
This nitwit is what passes for a conservative in Philly.
Michael, it may be hard to believe but some of us did not raise our kids to be tools of the elite. Mine are homeschooled and wise to your ways. They will undermine your efforts at every opportunity and I will help them in that noble endeavor in any way possible.
Liberals want a draft.
They see a draft as a way to destroy the military.
If that’s what it takes ? I’m with you all the way my Friend !
This guy was not conservative and could never, ever be conservative.
Whatever it was he did calling himself a conservative, he did for expediency and to make money.
Anyone...ANYONE who supports the election of B. Hussein Obama is one of three things: Stupid, ignorant, or liberal. There is no third option.
Sure, Smerconish is a rat-faced simpleton, and it's no surprise that a socialist/fascist toilet tissue like the Stinky would publish his drek, but doesn't anybody care about the Constitution of the United States anymore?
The drafted army of WWII wasn’t a standing mandatory conscript army during peacetime. There is a huge difference.
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