I have for a long time been a proponent of compulsory national service, especially for those between the ages of 18 and 25. If I had had that option when I was in that age range, I would have welcomed it.
National service would line up with what President John F. Kennedy said in the 1960s,"Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." Recently I was pleasantly surprised to read in Arnold Rampersad's biography of the African-American author Ralph Ellison that "Ralph called for the formation of a kind of compulsory national service, in which youths could choose either military or civilian involvement."
It wouldn't be a bad idea to extend participation to able-bodied individuals in their 30s and 40s as an alternative to welfare-to-work programs which only line the pockets of for-profit workfare company executives and do little to nothing to improve the economic and employment possibilities for people in need.
Here would be a golden opportunity to offer on-the-job training, coupled with a living wage. The program would not only provide candidates in the program with meaningful work experience instead of low wage, dead-end jobs, it would benefit the country as a whole, especially the many infrastructure projects that need to be done.
I see so many people--young, middle-age, and beyond--who hang out on street corners or building stoops instead of being involved in productive activities.
If the Republicans are truly serious about reducing the welfare rolls as well as crime (and recidivism), they should get behind a national service program. It would be one of the best things that could happen to this country.
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