Reviving the Past…

The time has come for compulsory national service.  Liberals and conservatives will probably all howl at this idea.  The neo-cons decry anything ‘Rooseveltian’ in nature; while liberals will say, “No way, that’s too much government interference in our childrens’ lives!”  Now, before you liberal social engineers and blonde neo-con harpies begin railing against this idea, let’s put partisanship aside and use a little common sense!

American infrastructure is slowly collapsing.  There are roads and bridges in disrepair, as we’ve recently seen in Minnesota.  Every summer the Western states erupt in flames, because forests go unmanaged.  In light of the continuing drought in many areas, we need better water management.  The nation’s electrical grid is an accident waiting to happen!  The answer to electrical power in the post-peak oil years will be nuclear power.  We have a huge security poject in the fencing of our borders.

We have adopted a preemptive foreign policy that will have us chasing terrorists until the end of days, while we’ve neglected national security.  Our military has been hammered on the anvil of terrorism, which has significantly impaired our ability to respond to future situations, both at home and abroad.  The Army and Marines have announced a substantial increase in their forces, over the next five years; but they barely make their monthly recruitment requirements now!  The government doesn’t want a draft, it might lead to riots, reminiscent of the Vietnam war.  The last draft was hardly conducted in an equitable manner, mostly poor and middle-classes were called up; while too many of our ‘fortunate sons’ sought refuge through college deferments.  We will be rebuilding our military for a long time as a result of the war in Iraq, and it will be vitally important to our security in the post-peak oil era.

National service similar to the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA), could provide the manpower needed for infrastructure repair and the military expansion.  All 18 year-olds would be required to do two years of service to the nation.  They could work in forestry, road building and repair, inner city revitalization, and construction.  Alternatively, they could enlist in the military, in the event recruitment levels aren’t achieved the draft would be instrumented; however, this time there won’t be any college deferments!  Workers would be paid a monthly stipend, room and board, medical, and money for college when they complete their service.

In order to explain the logic of this plan, I must take a short segway into some observations I’ve made as a substitute teacher.  I worked with middle school and high school students in suburban Atlanta, GA.  All the way through the twelfth grade, I saw too many kids who had very poor reading, writing, math and science skills.  There was little emphasis on critical thinking skills.  Students were bored, as were the teachers, while they taught the kids to pass the state and federal tests mandated by the No Child Left Behind program.  Too many high school seniors lacked direction; they didn’t know what they wanted to study in college, and seemed to be going just to please their parents.

A few figures will help put things in perspective.  There were approximately 19.5 million students entering college in 2006.  Current figures indicate roughly 9.2 million students will drop out before receiving a degree.  Out of the 10.3 million that will graduate, 3.7 million will be functionally illiterate; they will need remedial business courses in order to write coherent documents.

So what’s the problem here?  Some of the drop-out rate reflects a lack of funds for many of the poor students.  The illiteracy can be directly linked to our broken education system.  Regarding the middle and upper income students, while both parents are working to send the kids to college, the kids are at school which is just a big party.  At home the kids are surrounded, adrift, and sheltered in the lap of luxury, complete with cell phones, text messaging, computer games, stereos, and television.  When they get to college, there’s no one to get them up in the morning and no one cares if they study; too often college turns into another big party.

Now back to national service!  The first year the program would have approximately 4.4 million 18 year-olds, by the second year forward there would be 8.8 million available annually.  These kids have been given everything for 18 years, it’s not unreasonable to expect something in return.  Along the way they will learn skills, and responsibility.  They will learn about life, and build character.  Above all they will realize they don’t like working for peanuts; they’ll be ready to appreciate a college education!

J.R. Lutticken