Mandatory patriotism

In the face of increasing wariness of government interference and ineptitude, Uncle Sam, like a jilted lover, is screaming "you'll see! I'll MAKE you love me!"

John Kennedy was right: A nation is defined not by what it does for its citizens but by what it asks of them. If your leaders aren't challenging you to do your part, they aren't doing theirs. We need a real Patriot Act that brings out the patriot in all of us by establishing for the first time an ethic of universal citizen service.

All Americans between the ages of 18 and 25 should be asked to serve their country by going through three months of basic civil defense training and community service. This is not a draft, nor is it military. Young people will be trained not as soldiers, but simply as citizens who understand their responsibilities in the event of a natural disaster, an epidemic or a terrorist attack. Universal citizen service will bring Americans of every background together to make America safer and more united in common purpose.

"Asked." Sure... if it's voluntary, it won't be "universal." (Reader tip: beware any proposal that seeks to be "universal" -- it will inevitably contain provisions hostile to individual liberty.) It's all well and good to encourage people to think of the 'greater good,' but it's folly to think one can mandate civic virtue any more than one can buy it. What this proposal does is go one step further toward the idea of "state uber alles." The government already claims first dibs to your paycheck. Now it's claiming first dibs to your most important possession: your limited time on this earth. In the process, Mother State will teach you her definition of good citizenship. Your leaders will get you to do "your part" (as defined by them, of course). This is the hallmark of a free society? I think not.

I have no problem with offering incentives, such as college, for those who CHOOSE to serve. The military's ROTC and the Peace Corps' programs have done this for years. But there's a vast difference between voluntary service to the community, borne out of personal character and motivation, and involuntary servitude...a condition also known as slavery. We would do well to keep that distinction in mind before allowing yet another link to be added to the chains being forged in Washington D.C.