Community Service

When I was around 12, still idealistic, and hopeful that there was redemption for a soul I knew I would surely torture, I volunteered through my school to work with local community institutions. I went to what we today call an "elder care facility", but back then we called it a retirement community. I sat with older people and watched soap operas, and kept them company while their own children squandered their future inheritance on novelties like the personal computer (this was 1982 afterall.).

I then worked for a home for what we now call "special needs" children, who were really truly and completely without an ability to do anything for themselves. These are for lack of a better term the "worst of the worst" of mentally retarded. Disadvantaged or disabled barely scratched the surface. I don't mean to be harsh; I just want to paint a real picture here. The people who worked for the center full time were the noblest of the noble.

During these formative years I realized the importance of service to the greater good. Don't get me wrong. There is nothing heroic about what I did - I pulled my share - but it taught me that no matter how tough life can be, there is always time to give a little back, and that someone always has it tougher than you. However, we today have a generation which appears to be somewhat directionless. I remember on September 12, 2001 a college student from my alma mater, Temple University, was interviewed. His comment (paraphrased slightly) was 'it was horrible, but I don't know if it is worth dying for.' At that moment in time, the one galvanizing event of our generation was wiped away, like dust in an eye for many. The more mature of our population cried. We got angry. We saw people join the Army and Marine Corps, leaving jobs paying hundreds of thousands to live below the poverty level, but the masses remained behind thinking that its bad, but not enough to interfere with their lifes. I mean, 3,000 bankers, businessmen and lawyers? Well, they were rich, right? Not worth dying for. Oh brother, what a message.

Our current populace en masse between the ages of 17 and 50 have never really had a common cause to unite a nation. World War II galvanized a nation to action. Sacrifice. Loss. Victory. We saw people sacrifice sugar for their cakes at home, so our soldiers overseas could have sugar in their coffee. We saw people forego the purchase of a new automobile so that our soldiers could ride in the protection of the Sherman tank. We had an enemy who needed to be dethroned, and we did it. Victory. Unification.

Today, more than 60 years later, as the last World War II warriors take their place in Valhalla, we have a new generation of Americans, forged in the history of Vietnam and Korea, where war was unpopular because we lacked a unifying cause. We have a generation where the gap between the haves and have nots have grown exponentially, and where many of the haves have chosen to move from public service into the private sector. And in turn we have a nation where the military is at war and many of the remainder are on vacation.

7,000 miles from the United States, we have over 160,000 servicemen and women standing in harms way, and no one here is giving up their sugar for them. Where people can still buy the HUMMER H2 and fuel it on the back of these people and pay homage to them with an occasional magnet or flag sticker. They ask for little in return, and the people of our nation has been great at giving them very little. So I propose a plan to pay them homage.

I submit that Community Service is the road to unifying our nation. When I failed out of college and had to join the Army to pay for school, I learned the true value of an education. I believe that when something is earned, something is truly gained. If I had to earn my right to vote at 18, then I would take it more seriously. If I lost my citizenship because I simply existed here, I would do more than just exist. Unfortunately again, this generation of residents has yet to earn its citizenship. Robert Heinlein, the sci-fi author who was the impetus behind "Starship Troopers" imagines a society where service equals citizenship, and this is an idea whose principles need to be embraced.

I am not suggesting that the only form of service is military - quite the opposite. The draft is a failed idea of a time of desperation. While we should encourage military service, it should no more or less required than participating in non-military service to the nation. Conscription of civilians into military service is a horrible idea which results in lower acceptance standards, high risk on the front lines and an overall reduction in discipline.

Instead, I would think that for the vast majority of residents, citizenship is retained through services to the greater good. Work for a non-profit? The service counts. Work for a non-profit that preaches anger, hate and violence? Sadly, while I would try to dissuade you from this path, the service counts. Work on a campaign for state senator? Counts. Pick up trash on a weekend? Peace Corps? USAID work? Time in El Salvador, teaching english to spanish speakers? Still good. Play video games on Saturday until your thumbs are sore? Sorry, here's your one-way ticket to Mexico City.

We have come a long way since June of 1944. Many would point to our technical advances, our strong position in foreign affairs and our historically strong economic markets and say that we as a nation have advanced. However, I would submit that if I compare the average 22 year old male of today against that of 64 years ago today, I would suggest that we have devolved from where we should have been with 60 years of "advancement". When you don't have to work for your rights, you lose the appreciation for them. And eventually you will lose them entirely. While our best Americans serve around the world in many of these military and non-military roles, our majority remains secure behind the service these men and women provide and a little shake up would help us get together again, before someone seizes our rights to freedom entirely.