National Service

Uniter or Divider

Published on July 31, 2004 By castnorth In Philosophy

I recently read little_whip's article on reinstating the draft
Link

and felt compelled to speak up as this discussion led me to focus on the idea of National Service.

As my access online is spotty i was unable to join in the discussion in a timely manner thus i thought a post here more relevant.

Having lived overseas for a somewhat lengthy period ('97-'00), i had the benefit of meeting many young people of various nations, some of which have a national service (israel and germany to be more specific). It is my belief upon reflection and conversation with various participants of these national programs that the benefits of required service far outweigh any downside. More specifically, such a program would help to encourage a sense of national unity that builds on awareness of others. As has been pointed out recently, America is a divided country; "there are two America's"

A National Service would put the youth of these two (or more?) Americas together in a program that is distinctly American for Americans and by Americans. A new brotherly (or sisterly) bond would arise; where someone in Middle America would have a vested interest in what happens in Delaware or Oregon (and vice-a-versa) because of the time spent in Service, public or military, with people from those areas. These are bonds of friendship tempered with the idealism of youth.

America is large country with definable and indentifiable individualities throughout its vast landscape. It is very easy to get lost in one view of a piece of this America. What a National Service would accomplish would be to provide a new image of what an American is to those who may have never envisioned that there is another point of view other than theirs. And the beauty of the program is that it is interaction with peers that provides this life-altering education--not a political agenda other than the goal of National Unity and Identity.

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