Letter to the Editor
NATIONAL SERVICE
“Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” –JFK
The American people are disgusted with a dysfunctional Congress that can’t solve issues that have overwhelming support, such as comprehensive immigration reform, minimum wage reform, infrastructure and job creation. But rather than accepting this gridlock and reducing our national aspirations, now may be the time for big, bold and hopeful solutions. It may seem counter-intuitive, but the darkest days of the Great Depression were followed by some of the boldest and most successful economic and social innovations.
As an example, there’s evidence that the American people would unite behind a national service requirement. If all young people had to serve for two years (similar to the draft but with multiple civilian and military options), it would benefit the economy, employment, the military, education and our society as a whole, in addition to the youth. This non-partisan concept would have everyone age 18 select from among a range of options that would include the Peace Corps, AmeriCorps, education, health care, National Parks and similar eleemosynary services, and deferments would be awarded for education or special situations. Our all-volunteer military faces serious recruiting and retention challenges and now represents less than one percent of our society, 90 percent below the volunteer high. The current system creates an unhealthy insulation for both civilians and military.
The benefits to individual participants include training, employment, compensation, experience, education and tuition credits, sometimes a career, and the honor of serving one’s country. There is also an important, but difficult to quantify, benefit that comes from immersion in a worthwhile cause, while working with diverse teammates and co-workers, that has always been part of the American experience.
Even cynics grant that politicians might recognize the value of arguing over who deserves the most credit for this kind of “grand success,” instead of continuing to fight over who deserves the most blame for failure. Isn’t it time to give a new generation the opportunity to show what they can do?
Roger C. Kostmayer
Key West
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Roger, I have always looked forward to reading words from you. Your wise counsel, smart ideas and eloquence are much appreciated. Keep writing.