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I'm heading out for a weekend with my younger brothers, so I'll have to wait to see what the outcome of this is. But here's the question. Is Mandatory Federal Service a good idea or a bad idea?
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I'm a boomer, born in 1954, I turned 18 in 1972, I was a 19 year old high school drop-out in 1973. Luckily for me, the draft ended in 1972. There was a VERY active military draft going on until 1972, most of us know that the U.S. was heavily embroiled in Viet Nam then. So getting drafted had dire consequences for some, and I know guys who got drafted.
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That's MY background.
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I have always thought that some sort of Mandatory Federal Service for all able bodied Americans between the ages of 18 (or some date after HS graduation) and 30 years old, should be REQUIRED. I do not think that it should be military service, everyone is not cut out for the military. But, there are thousands of schools, hospitals, parks, roadways, etc that could be tended or cared for by American youth. I think it would get people involved in our country and it would get some of these "ME, ME, ME" people off their asses and make them see that there is NO such concept or reality in a truly free country.
I don't think that such service should be JUST working for ACORN, the ACLU or such liberal organizations. If ACORN is OK, so should be the NRA. If people are "artistic", let them work at a museum, if they are good with their hands, let them build houses, or help the elderly hang a new door.
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There are too many examples of "need" in our country to mention.
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What brings this up, is House Bill, HR 1388: The Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act.
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I had a long and loud conversation with my youngest brother about this today. He's a good conservative voter and supporter. But I think, that he thinks, as do many people, that going to the Post Office and signing up for Selective Service IS volunteering. He grew up in a time where "mandatory federal service" was a BAD thing, because it meant going to Nam. But being outside the window of that time, he turned 18 in 1978, he doesn't see that time with the same view that I do.
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Planting trees in Yosemite, or teaching reading to 2nd Graders to pay off your time of Federal Service NOW seems to pale, against humping the boonies in SE Asia, or Korea, or the South Pacific, or Europe, THEN, whenever THEN is. At least to me it does. And I'm not a Nam vet, but many of my friends were, and so were many of the guys I was in the Navy with. I'd bet they'd plant the trees.
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I could be wrong here, but I believe what I believe. My question is, what do YOU, my friends, think of the concept?
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Schteveo is going to be POE-LUTE-ED in 24 hrs.
11 comments:
I think this is going to go down in flames, even if passed. As with the Vietnam war there will be individuals who will be "exempt". I think some sort of service is a good thing, but there will be people who take advantage of the system
Oh and Eatith upon Meith!!!!!!
Is this volunteer work? Yeah. Right. All 18 year olds can afford to be out of work for said period of time. Their rich mommies and daddies can support them while they do.
18 years old doing their mandatory service will learn that the gov't will feed, clothe & house them while they do nothing.....
easy transition to welfare...
cone on Steve - do you really think that any gov;y program will actually require the participants to do real worK?
I think the concept is a good one, but i don't agree with the choices for the types of service that would be performed. I've always been a supporter of mandatory military service for everyone reaching the age of 18, as is done in Israel. And, if it happens that your country is at war when your time comes, you go. That's the price that must be payed for freedom. Getting a young person to plant trees, or feed someones cat, or go to the grocery store for an elderly person, isn't going to teach them anything except, gee, life really is easy. By the time they find out that it isn't, it's too late.
Amerika, generally speaking, and it's people have lost their brains, their balls, and their backbone, and the whole world knows it. Military service, even though the military's been PC'ized by the elected lying crooks who control it, is our only hope for puting our society back on track, unless of course, you see something else that's working. I sure don't.
Our high school requires students to do some sort of volunteer work before graduating. That's a good start. But what obama wants is for youth to be paid while doing "volunteer" work - for organizations like ACORN. Sounds like the Hitler Youth.
Rebuttals and answers to things.
Yes I think there are gub'ment plans and programs that work, ever been to a National Park, or driven on the interstate, fly on a plane controlled by the FAA?
Anon,
I think BOHICA has in mind ACORN, but for this to work, it has to be broader. Just like the church outreach stuff Bush put in, money didn't just go to LIBERAL churches.
C-Bug,
most 18 year olds, rich or poor, are sitting on their asses anyway. The best numbers I could find, three years old now, only 20% of 18 to 20 year olds are WORKING more than 10 hours per week. That's even lower than I thought it would be!!
If this MADE them get up, it can't be a bad thing. As I said, people need to get their minds right and their hands dirty to see the way things need to be done. I guarantee, anyone who has to teach in a school, plant trees or spends 2 years in the Army will raise their kids to NOT expect handouts. In fact, I think it would make a huge difference in attitude for everyone to do some sort of service.
Spider,
Israel does have mandatory service, and about 85% do IDF military service. But there are other ways that are available for those that are not physically able or who won't fight for religious reasons. We could do the same thing.
That's true Steve. That's why i said military service, and not combat duty, since as we know, some have it and some don't. What i was refering to was the training aspect of military service. Getting young people to have a sense of responsibility, reality, and self respect, something that they obviously don't get in civilian life.
This will only get my support if it becomes a method through which citizens EARNt heir right to vote. Give service? Get a vote.
Choose to abstain, which should be a choice allowed in a free country, then choose to abstain, forever, from voting.
Seems pretty straight forward to me. it would get a lot of lazy-assed "gimme" people off the voting records, and ensure that ther people who can and do vote have served the country and have a vested interest in it's future success.
But I will only support it if it is presented as a CHOICE, with reward and consequence given for the decision made.
You CHOOSE not to serve, your reward is that you don't have to serve. Your CONSEQUENCE is that you lose the right to vote. Forever.
You CHOOSE to serve, your reward is the right to vote, but your consequence is that you get to work for the government for a few years.
Sounds alright to me...
This will only get my support if it becomes a method through which citizens EARNt heir right to vote. Give service? Get a vote.
Choose to abstain, which should be a choice allowed in a free country, then choose to abstain, forever, from voting.
Seems pretty straight forward to me. it would get a lot of lazy-assed "gimme" people off the voting records, and ensure that ther people who can and do vote have served the country and have a vested interest in it's future success.
But I will only support it if it is presented as a CHOICE, with reward and consequence given for the decision made.
You CHOOSE not to serve, your reward is that you don't have to serve. Your CONSEQUENCE is that you lose the right to vote. Forever.
You CHOOSE to serve, your reward is the right to vote, but your consequence is that you get to work for the government for a few years.
Sounds alright to me...
Oh, and Spidey...
Some of us cannot join the military. I couldn't be drafted if I wanted to be. I suffer from a genetic immune disease that would preclude my serving. Add to that the fact that I am 6'-4" tall and nearly 300 pounds, I'm not sure they even make a uniform that would fit me, much less a platoon of men strong enough to drag my ass out of trouble if I took a round.
Oh, and the two ruptured discs in my back. Don't forget those.
The military wouldn't take me if I prostrated myself at their feet and begged them to.
I tried.
This cannot be limited to militray service. Some folks just don't have it. As far as holding my own in a fight, there is probably not very many civilians that could best me, but I am not military approved.
Now, I agree that planting trees somewhere isn't enough, but what about National Park service, HUD, peace corps, and that sort of stuff? There has to be some other option besides military for guys like me that wouldn't fit in any uniform that they have available.
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