(Title changed to more accurately reflect topic)

Forgive me if this topic has been covered before; I couldn't find any similar post.

I believe that some form of draft should be installed in the USA. The "draft" can be called Service to America or whatever. It will not be solely a military draft, but it should be mandatory.

The proposed draft will apply to all citizens ages 18 to 25. The only exemption from it would be serious physical maladies. The commitment would be a minimum of 60 hours per month for a period of two years.

The draft would serve several purposes:

It would give our youth the opportunity to participate in society and/or government in a manner that they would normally not have the opportunity to.

It would begin to put the solutions to social problems back into the hands of the people, and out of governments' hands.

Services covered by this draft could include the following:

Voter reform
Tax reform
Service to the elderly and housebound
Habitat for Humanity types of projects
Environmental issues
Helping the homeless in a million ways
Tutoring and mentoring schoolage children
Helping single-parent families with child care

Government has its hand in many of the above right now, with the attendant waste and bureaucracy.

Putting this back in the hands of the people would help them to satisfy a debt to society, as well as give them a vested interest in their country. In other words, we'd appreciate our country more if we had to work at it to make it better.

Funding could come from a combination of taking the money back from the government, and private contributions.

Comments?

john


[Edited on 1-3-2004 by jsobecky]

Let me guess...Your over 25???

it's a very noble idea and all but do you really think during this current 'war on terrorism' that the government wouldn't devote all the able bodied persons included in your draft to go off and fight whenever they sniff out some new WMD next?

i don't think the government is really concerned with;

Voter reform
Tax reform
Service to the elderly and housebound
Habitat for Humanity types of projects
Environmental issues
Helping the homeless in a million ways
Tutoring and mentoring schoolage children
Helping single-parent families with child care

or they would be doing more about them now.

Be careful what you wish for...you just may get it....

Originally posted by McGotti
Let me guess...Your over 25???

...and don't have children.

McGotti
Yes, I'm over 25. Thanks for the chuckle..
Anyway, we'd need old coots like me to show the youngsters which end of the hammer to use.

enomus:

Very subtle distinction you make there. The government is not concerned about those things, they are just involved in them.

john

Jenna

I have one of each in that age group, and would be the first to make sure that they would fulfill their obligation.

john

Originally posted by jsobecky
Jenna

I have one of each in that age group, and would be the first to make sure that they would fulfill their obligation.

Who is Jenna?

We have been over this all before.

The honor of service is that it is selected. People risking their lives by choice is a noble thing.

The Constitution allows those who believe, for religious or other reasons, to follow the stipulations of such making forced service unlawful.

This would not be the case in such national emergencies as martial law, but I think at that point there would be no need or time for a draft.

We'd just have to have some Red Dawn action going on.

WOLVERINES

We'd just have to have some Red Dawn action going on.

WOLVERINES

i still have that movie on VHS

Jonna

Sorry for the typo. I meant Jonna, not Jenna.

jahn ...woops, I meant john

I would not support a maditory military service in our current state. If government was a little smaller and a bit more decentralized I would, but they are just way to big. They're too big and have too much control already. If we instituted a maditory service they would have waaaaaayyyyyy too much control. They could brainwash the youth of the nation.

joehayner

I don't like the idea of a military draft either. I'd like to see many of the social ills fixed by common folk WITHOUT the government's intervention. Much can be accomplished at the local level; after all, who better to know what needs done around town, the locals or the feds. Just have the feds hand over the checkbook, thank you very much.

john

Plenty of people are joining the army contrary to public belief. I know I am in it. Don't belive all the media hype about all the stuff going on. They just want the ratings and to push their political agenda. We don't need the draft. Here in Korea 2 years and 1 month of military service is mandatory and it is widely despised and the soldiers are of poor quality compared to volunteer soldiers.

Nobody read anymore. They just skim over the heading, if that.

My post had nothing to do with the military. It was a method of getting the youth of our nation involve in solving our own social problems..

I figured, that since most youth are idealistic (democratic material) they would have the fresh ideas to help our country inside our own borders. It was also a way to begin taking the money back from the gov't and into our local communities.

I cast my pearls at swine. eavy sigh>

john

ok John,

Perhaps you should rename your post. I read your post, and the ideas work the same as military service.

You can not force people into service. Period

John Edwards and John Kerry both propose just such a commitment to service for young people seeking College Tuition aid from the government.

Community Service gets you free college sort of like Military service does now.

Maybe another name would be better...I had hoped that it would attract attention and discussion. Anyway, I changed it in this post, hopefully it will show up on the board.

You can't force people into service, but possibly a carrot and stick approach would work.

I would just like to see many of these issues out of the feds hands and back to the local level. Money would get spent more efficiently, problems solved more quickly, IMO. And I think that youth should be instilled with a sense of duty to our country; if they start getting involved early enough, maybe it will carry throughout their lives.

john

The reason people went into public service or the military, was because the benifits were good.

In the competative world today, they are not.

Teachers do not make enough, nor is enough required of them. Higher standards, higher pay.

Police, good god raise the bar here. And again, pay them more.

I am pretty confident in the fire services (from my experience).