Her cousin is Jewish but Christian so you shutup.

-Rudey

Agreed. Also, it's easy to say that mandatory military/community/whatever service is a good idea when you're well past the age of having to do it.

I'd rather see the U.S. be more selective of where it sends troops instead of instituting some form of compulsory service.

totally agree - this is a plan i could support

- marissa

On the one hand, it's a lot easier to lead volunteers than to motivate and lead draftees. On the other, it occurs to me that the price of citizenship is to put something back into the country. A national service program sounds good, but needs and requirements must come first. All national service personnel can't be in the Peace Corps. So, within the limits of availability and balanced against the needs of whatever service is required I would go along with a national service program with the clear understanding that while your preferences should be honored if possible the ultimate decision of what you are assigned to do must be based on the needs of the nation, not the preferences of the one doing national service. A self centered agenda must be subordinate to the bigger picture if the situation demands this.
In an ideal world we would all have our first choice of assignment and those who elect the military option would not be required to serve in a combat role but would be the garrison troops holding the fort back home while the Regular (volunteer) forces did the hard jobs. A national service person could volunteer for combat duty but would not be required to do so unless we were engaged in a war of national survival like WWII. Wishful thinking and plenty of areas for discussion and disagreement but its a start point. When I did my deployment I had all volunteers to work with. When my Dad was in Viet Nam he had a mix of draftees and Regulars so his leadership tasks were a bit more challenging than mine. At least we both got all our guys back home alive and mostly intact.
My personal belief is that we all owe our country a debt of service that every citizen must address. There are surely many ways to accomplish this, my way was to serve in the Army and to actively pursue 'pro bono' work now.

FWIW, I have been in favor of the system of military/community service since I was a sophmore in high school - when I first heard of it.

dekeguy - you make excellent points.

Even as an active member of APO, I've always found the required 50 or so hours of community service for HS students, dumb as hell...if not somewhat counterproductive.

Well, so do it. Quit your job and do community service for two years (unless you already have done it).

Exactly. I doubt very much that students who are forced into community service develop a love of it. Plus, I'm guessing that there are some students who play the system and get away with doing things like putting down cheerleading as community service.

Just how do You know that Students who are forced into Community Servise do not learn something?

Yes, maybe they will find out being primadonas will and learn other things.

If they dont then where do they end up?

Damn sure not in College will they?:rolleyes:

Oh Hell, Being a Cheer Leader is Community Servitued?

Maybe You have no idea what these People do!

It isnt a bed of Roses! Ask any Cheer Leader Here how damn hard it is!

The consequences may be different, but to the leader -- manager or officer -- and the others in a unit, the dynamics are the same, I think. The person who doesn't want to be there makes it difficult for that leader, and everyone else. It's something we all have to deal with, one way or the other, for life.

DeltAlum, I am trying to read Your answer and form a response.

Yes, there is a Structure for Any Business and this also includes the Military.

So, While I do not actually want to conscript any one for Military Service, then, if they are going to Recruit Men/Women for That service then be truthful and pay them as such with the Major benefits.

But, the problem is We Leave many times them out but with lip service!

what is this mandatory community service to graduate high school? I have never heard of it

I think that you should either have to serve in the military or get some type of college education

Some school systems throughout the country have instituted that requirement for high school students to graduate. This can be fulfilled either by tutoring younger students, for example.

As for universal military service, unless we get in a situation where the safety and stability of our nation is directly threatened (i.e. outright invasion or a nuke attack), it's just not going to fly. I can see it being done in Israel, where they're almost completely surrounded by their enemies.

In the words of an Irish pub tune, NO, NAY, NEVER, NO MORE!

I just think it is counter productive to the spirit of service to FORCE someone to do community work. And I don't think it would help chairities at all, because people aren't doing the work because they *want* to, theyre just there taking up space because they don't feel like shooting/being shot at.

Honestly, if there's ever a draft or forced conscription, that's the last straw for me. Eff it. I'd up and move back here to the UK/ Eire. I'd rather denounce my citizenship than FORCE people into life courses they don't want to do. That's part of that whole "persuit of happiness" thing. Personally, my persuit of happiness is in university, not shooting people, and not being FORCED to serve my community. I serve my community because I WANT to, not because the government is giving me a choice between Meals on Wheels and a machine gun.

Service, true community service, should be a DESIRE, something you WANT to do because you have compassion and care for your neighbor, anything else I think is antithetical to that.

And what about young people with children? Ship them off to some godforsaken piece of land? Or make them do voluntary service and not have a job, making them rely on the gov't for more handouts, not to mention taking them away from their children?

Umm, the service would be your job for two years. You would get paid, just as you do in the military. Therefore, it would decrease government handouts. Some of the people could even do their service at day care centers for the kids. It would give them real life work experiences. I think, in general, our society has moved from Kennedy's famous "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country" back to always asking what our country can do for us. My hope would be that it would reverse that trend.