[Dryerase] Alarm!--Volunteerism

[The Alarm!Newswire]

Volunteerism will save America?
By Chris Kortright
The Alarm! Newspaper Contributor

EDITOR’S NOTE: In surfing the internet recently, contributor Chris 
Kortright came across the Citizen’s Corp website hosted by the US 
government. These were his thoughts on that discovery.

Your country has never needed you more. —John Ashcroft from the Citizen 
Corps’ Citizens’ Preparedness Guidebook

George W. Bush has told the American public that volunteerism is one of 
the many answers to the terrorist threats we presently face. In his 
speeches and diatribes, we hear a ringing resemblance to John F. 
Kennedy’s “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can 
do for your country.” So then, what exactly are we asked to do for this 
country? How is one to volunteer for this great nation?

Well, according to the government web site there is a whole list of 
chores that daddy federal government wants us to do.  Under “Help Your 
Country,” we are told that the first thing we can do is Invest in 
America.  And no surprise to the local skeptic, we are asked to buy 
Patriot Bonds. But let’s say that, like me, you are not a wealthy 
person. Is there a way to support the “War on Terrorism” and our 
government’s “Homeland Security?” Lucky for us there is, and it is a 
practice that most of us working class people are very used to doing 
—Work for the USA.

Work for the USA? Isn’t that what I do every day when I go to work? I 
certainly don’t work for myself. So, what kind of jobs are out there 
for those of us who desire to work for the good ol’ US of A? Just a 
quick scan down the list of “jobs” shows that all the opportunities are 
military and law enforcement related. The list is quite long and 
diverse if you have authoritarian or militaristic instincts: Army, 
Navy, Air Force, Marines. But the list doesn’t stop there, there are so 
many “job” options: work for the INS, the Federal Air Marshals, the FBI 
or even the National Guard.

If working isn’t your thing or maybe you are already too busy working, 
you can still help your country. There are still a few more chores that 
need to be done….

First, you can be a snitch. You know one of those people in prison who 
gets out early for telling the guards what they heard during pillow 
talk, or who is smuggling in drugs. Or if you relate to movies more, 
the gangster who kills seven people and then walks free because he 
tattletales to the federal government what  his bigger brother did over 
the past four years. You could become one of them. There are all sorts 
of hotlines and mug shots that we the public have access to (you can 
even earn up to $2.5 million being a snitch).

Second, you can Fly the American Flag. The government recommends 
“Printable American Flag Images” or “Design a Pentagon Memorial,” but I 
bet they would be just as happy with an old-fashioned cotton flag.

There is still one more option—the  Citizen Corps. What are they, you 
ask? They are an organization of volunteers; actually they are THE 
organization of volunteers according to Bush. Volunteer you say? Like 
feeding the homeless, taking care of children or the elderly? Well, 
this organization is a bit different than the local soup kitchen. But, 
you say, I’ve volunteered before and loved it. It’s right up my alley, 
the whole militarism and snitching thing isn’t for me. So you ask, what 
is the Citizen Corps all about?

The Citizen Corps was set up right after 9/11. It is a “network of 
volunteer efforts” that will “harness the power of the American people 
by relying on their individual skills and interests to prepare local 
communities to effectively prevent and respond to the threats of 
terrorism, crime, or any kind of disaster.” So, how does this network 
“harness the power of the American people?” They have established 
volunteer programs for you to plug into: Community Emergency Response 
Teams, Neighborhood Watch Program, Volunteers in the Police Service, 
Medical Reserve or Operation TIPS.

“In the aftermath of September 11, 2001, the need for strengthening and 
securing our communities has become more critical.” So, enter the 
Neighborhood Watch Program. The Neighborhood Watch Program is where 
community residents will be provided with information so they can 
“recognize signs of potential terrorist activity”—like the young Arab 
man outside of Chicago who had the cops called on him as he sat in his 
car in front of the house he had lived in for eight years. The Citizen 
Corps makes sure you understand that the Neighborhood Watch Program is 
not “vigilantism.” If this sounds a little too renegade for you, you 
can just volunteer directly to the Police Services, where you would do 
the same things just with the cops looking over your shoulder.

If Work for the USA and the Citizen Corps sounds like the same program, 
you’re right. To work for your country in the Bush sense, you need to 
become a cop or a snitch. None of these jobs help the people of this 
country, or people in other countries for that matter. They help the 
government in its attempts to control its own citizens and the citizens 
of other countries. Which is a problem for me, and I hope you as well. 
But there is a way to help people who live in this country and abroad. 
Volunteer to challenge the permanent war our government is engaged in, 
fight against the economic system the keeps those of us in the US and 
abroad in bondage, or work in solidarity with individuals who are under 
racist attacks within your community. There is a way that volunteering 
can made the individuals of this country safe—volunteer against the 
economic and social system that represses us all.

    All content Copyleft © 2002 by The Alarm! Newspaper. Except where 
noted otherwise, this material may be copied and distributed freely in 
whole or in part by anyone except where used for commercial purposes or 
by government agencies.

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