Patriotism is easy to understand in America; it means looking out for yourself by looking out for your country.
– Calvin Coolidge
As President-elect Barack Obama prepares to take office, there are obviously some issues for which he has announced programs that are chief in people’s minds (i.e. the economy, the war, energy and climate change). However, just because these massive problems are front-and-center in the public eye doesn’t mean we should lose sight of the long run. As the adage goes, “this, too, shall pass.”
In my perusing of Obama’s plans for the United States, one section I found of interest was the plan for Civilian Service.
For those unfamiliar with the term, Civilian Service is, much as its name suggests, work programs that citizens of the United States engage in, in order to better their community.
These programs involve the requirement of all middle and high school students to perform 50 hours of community service, and all college students to undergo 100 hours every year, in exchange for a $4,000 grant to ease the burden of tuition.
But it doesn’t stop there. From the look of things, Obama wants to create a “new ‘New Deal,’” putting most of the United States’ populace to work in improving the lives of those around them. He proposes forming five new corps in the AmeriCorps, each geared toward involving the American people in fixing the problems our nation faces, ranging from the Classroom Corps to the Clean Energy Corps to the Homeland Security Corps.
While hardly an inspired plan, I believe Obama’s got the right idea here. There is a general feeling (especially in blue states, I’d imagine) that the United States is not currently a country we are proud of. Directly involving its citizens in fixing its problems seems like a brilliant way to get much of what needs doing off the ground, while simultaneously encouraging people to take a personal stake in their country’s rebuilding. Imagine what a good feeling it would be to know that your country is not only improving, but you are playing an active role in that improvement.
Obama’s pick for chief of staff, Rahm Emmanuel, supports the implementation of a program similar to Switzerland’s civilian service program. In his proposed plan, all citizens aged 18-25 would report to a local state training facility and enlist in a three-month civil defense program, where they would learn “what to do in the event of biochemical, nuclear or conventional attack; how to assist others in an evacuation; how to respond when a levee breaks or we’re hit by a natural disaster.” This would be quite a change of pace for the United States. In a country that still clearly remembers the Vietnam War, anything that smacks of a draft is often met severe resistance.
But here’s the thing: I think this is a great idea. What was the biggest contributor to the Katrina disaster? FEMA taking nearly a week to even get down to the affected area. Now imagine if everyone aged 18-25 in New Orleans had had disaster relief training, and government-prepared survival and relief supply caches were included in every local National Guard Armory or a new facility included in the program. I imagine the suffering could have been lessened greatly or relief could at least have been expedited, had we had a “sleeper force” of emergency services-trained citizens ready to spring into action when needed.
Additionally, training to become a more responsible, informed and able-bodied citizen alongside others your age would encourage a bonding among your peers. I can say right now if such a program as Emmanuel’s were implemented tomorrow, I’d be one of the first to sign up.
The United States is at a crossroads. Right now, it looks like we’re on the right track, but everyone who pitches in will get us there faster and make the end result that much better. Our national motto is “Out of many, One”; perhaps it’s time we took that to heart and all joined together to make ourselves and, by association, our country, better. Then, we can once again be proud to be Americans, because we will be proud to be ourselves.
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Serving your country, self
Daily Emerald
January 12, 2009
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