[Peace-discuss] [Fwd: [ronpaul-207] "Compulsory universal service" for ages 18-25]

[Karen Medina]

Only military service? What if the 18-25 year olds could choose service to the poor or service to the military? 

Personally, I would have them do both. Service to the poor should come first -- and it could actually start younger in high school, maybe over the summer break. Military service should wait till 18.

And I would include compulsery language immersion -- I find it terribly embarrassing that so few Americans are not trained in another language.

RE: remuneration
In the Peace Corps, the pay is related to the average pay of a host-country professional working in the same town where the volunteer is stationed rather than the pay of a person in the US. That way volunteers were less likely to spend the higher-than-the-neighbors salary like filthy American tourists. Though some volunteers still managed that sort of spending. 

-karen medina

---- Original message ----
>Date: Sun, 09 Nov 2008 23:25:09 -0600
>From: "C. G. Estabrook" <galliher at uiuc.edu>  
>Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] [Fwd: [ronpaul-207] "Compulsory universal service" for ages 18-25]  
>To: "E. Wayne Johnson" <ewj at pigs.ag>
>Cc: Peace-discuss List <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
>
>Wayne--
>
>Instead of opposing this, we should support it -- with improvements.
>
>Here's how it would work. Young people will know that between the ages of
>eighteen and twenty-five, the nation will enlist them for three months of service.
>
>Such service shall be remunerated with a living wage, defined as the annual
>amount necessary to support a family, acquire a residence, transportation, etc.
>
>After the initial three months, such adequately-remunerated work may be resumed
>at any point of the citizen's choosing, and for as long as s/he may wish.
>
>Such service shall include military service.
>
>The manner in which tasks are accomplished shall be determined democratically by
>those engaged in them.  Notably, labor may be withdrawn with no loss of pay when
>the task violates the conscience of the worker -- by, e.g., environmental
>destruction, military devastation, etc.
>
>I'm sure you can think of other improvements.  I'm also sure that we agree that
>an anarchist society has to be a highly organized one.  (Anarchism doesn't mean
>no rules -- just no rulers.)
>
>Regards, CGE
>
>
>
>E. Wayne Johnson wrote:
>> 
>> 
>> -------- Original Message -------- Subject: 	[ronpaul-207] "Compulsory
>> universal service" for ages 18-25 Date: 	Sun, 9 Nov 2008 21:58:56 -0500 From:
>> Kurt Fiech <kfiech at hotmail.com> Reply-To: 	ronpaul-207 at meetup.com To:
>> ronpaul-207 at meetup.com
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Obama's chief of staff choice favors compulsory universal service
>> 
>> Rep. Rahm Emanuel <http://www.house.gov/emanuel/photos.shtml> of Illinois,
>> President-Elect Barack Obama's choice for chief of staff in his incoming
>> administration, is co-author of a book, /The Plan: Big Ideas for America/ 
>> <http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1586484125/>, that calls for, among other
>> things, compulsory service for all Americans ages 18 to 25. The following
>> excerpt is from pages 61-62 of the 2006 book:
>> 
>> It's time for a real Patriot Act that brings out the patriot in all of us. We
>> propose universal civilian service for every young American. Under this plan,
>> All Americans between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five will be asked to
>> serve their country by going through three months of basic training, civil
>> defense preparation and community service. ... Here's how it would work.
>> Young people will know that between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five, the
>> nation will enlist them for three months of civilian service. They'll be
>> asked to report for three months of basic civil defense training in their 
>> state or community, where they will 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. These young people will be available to address their communities'
>> most pressing needs.
>> 
>> Emanuel and co-author Bruce Reed insist "this is not a draft," but go on to
>> write of young men and women, "the nation will enlist them for three months
>> of civilian service." They also warn, "[s]ome Republicans will squeal about
>> individual freedom," ruling out any likelihood that they would let people opt
>> out of universal citizen service.
>> 
>> As chief of staff, Emanuel will not be in a position to directly introduce
>> public policy, but his enthusiasm for compulsory service, combined with
>> Barack Obama's own plan to require high school students to perform 50 hours
>> of government-approved service 
>> <http://www.examiner.com/x-536-Civil-Liberties-Examiner%7Ey2008m9d17-The-plausibly-deniable-draft--Obamas-very-modern-take-on-national-service>,
>> suggest an unfortunate direction for the new administration.
>
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