Obama’s “Civilian National Security Force” What does this mean to you?, page 1

This may be one of the most disturbing posts I've ever read on ATS. You seem to be an intelligent thoughtful person and you come to what, in your mind, is a well-reasoned conclusion that the Federal government has the power to MANDATE minor children into forced labor.

We're talking kids 14-18 years old being forced at gun point to take some sort of action.

What you are not looking at is the other side of the coin. What if the "required" service is not done? What if the students do not fulfill their mandatory "service?" What is the penalty?

Where in the Constitution is the Federal government given authority to mandate how children spend their time?

Wow, I've never had anyone react as so utterly shocked by a single thing I've said ever. It kind of shocks me.

First of all, the Federal Government can find a way to mandate anything it wants...it will not always be easy, but it will also not always be particularly difficult either...For instance, it would have been difficult for the Federal government to regulate the drinking age on a national level, one could argue that it could do so on moralistic or even more easily on a public welfare level, but it wasn't until it argued the public welfare stance and declared its dominance over state law through the Interstate Commerce Clause that it was able to regulate the sale of alcohol to "minors" on a national scale.

I don't even need to mention the Patriot Act of the breaches of FISA to make the point that when those that are in power want to do something, the Constitution does very little to stop them at this point and time in history, there is always a way around it...I do not agree with it, but it is a reality.

Secondly, no one is talking about forcing any children to do anything against their will at gunpoint...well, someone is, but it isn't Obama. If a school system thought it was a good idea to implement recommended or mandatory community service for its students before graduation, it could, it would have to get approval on a lot of levels, but it could. When I was in High School, my school was toying with the idea. When I was in college, I was required an unpaid internship before receiving my BA...I'd wager to say that at least 80% of my fellow classmates chose to volunteer for Community and Humanitarian NPOs. I was lucky enough to intern for a congressman.

Obama blatantly contrasts military service with the social service undertaken by the "teacher in East L.A., or the nurse in Appalachia, the after-school worker in New Orleans, the Peace Corps volunteer in Africa, the Foreign Service officer in Indonesia," implying that the later are what we need as this "national service."

There is no mention of anything "paramilitary" there is no "secret police" mentioned...but the fact remains that if you promote a form of behaviour when kids are still kids, lets say a more communitarian or "Republican"(in the Platonic sense, rather than the propagandized pundit sense) behaviour, those children are more likely to grow up to be better, more active citizens.

Do I know what the penalty will be if a student refuses to spend a little bit of his or her time helping his local community instead of playing his PS3, Wii or X-Box360? No, but I'll tell you what, there will be plenty of loopholes for parents to get their kids out of it.

At the end of the day, one has to see this for what it is. Obama is suggesting that more attention be paid to young students that they have to work a little bit harder, in their academics and in their personal lives. Kids have it too easy these days, and we've seen a dramatic increase of anti-social behaviour (sorry, I'm living in England at the moment) because kids these days lack direction, guidance, and most of all purpose.

All I will say further in this post is that I agree with Plato's Republic, nearly completely. Socrates is right, as far as I'm concerned...and yes, it is very relevant to this conversation.