GIVE

[Durden]

National service bill makes 'volunteerism' compulsory - Midstate Editorials | Our Views and Yours with The Patriot-News

Thursday, the U.S. Senate sent back to the House an amended bill to "expand and improve opportunities for service," legislation modeled on President Obama's campaign promise to establish "universal voluntary citizen service."

If passed, this act will produce an explosion in the number of service programs. Â Unfortunately, the goal of this legislation is profoundly un-American--to instill an ethic of servitude in every citizen.

How could expanding community service programs have such a radical effect in the land of liberty? To understand this, one must see how the plan aims to smuggle in compulsory service.

Under these proposed initiatives, service begins in youth. By providing grants to public and private schools that offer "service-learning" programs, the act creates financial incentives for elementary and secondary schools to expand service-related projects, thus making the school or the state the bad cop in enforcing compliance.

In college, the press for service continues; students will be urged to perform substantial community service in exchange for educational grants. Furthermore, financial incentives for the colleges or universities will tie federal funds to campuswide service initiatives, providing an additional, indirect attack on the college-going population.

The call for service then extends to adults, as the plan triples the size of the AmeriCorps program, developing several new "Corps" specifically tailored to support other items from the administration's agenda.

Finally, senior citizens will be called upon to serve in the Senior Corps, also marked for expansion.
National service would become pervasive and virtually unavoidable -- and that is the goal.

[Lee]

Tyrannical Government inc.

[Qalbert]

fuckin shit

[HAcoreRD]

i'm to lazy to serve

[Devia]

Mandatory servitude for the state, what a frightening proposition.

[Correction]

Byline:
http://i44.tinypic.com/2wqqwld.jpg

I'm a JOURNALIST.

Sure, make federal funding of sex ed depend on abstinence only. Sure, attach strings to medical research funding that says 'NO NEW STEM CELL LINES OK?'

But ask folks to volunteer? 'FUCK THAT GET OUT RADICAL LOONEY LIB.'

'k

[Norellicus]

Wow, where are you even getting the mandatory/forced concept out of this...they're providing incentive, not beating you with a whip if you don't

[Correction]

Wow, where are you even getting the mandatory/forced concept out of this...they're providing incentive, not beating you with a whip if you don't

"Our Views and Yours with The Patriot-News"

Should have been your first clue that they're 'Fair And Balanced' just like the rest of the organizations boasting the same.

[Olo401]

Let's just go straight to the subject - a comprehensive, non-compulsory national service bill. This is an idea that's been tossed around for decades in this country, and some pieces of it have been implemented already in the form of the Peace Corps, Americorps/City Year, etc.. Private institutions and some companies also have such voluntary community service programs, from serving food at food banks to coaching intramural sports. And of course, military service is the most traditional and honored form of volunteerism not just in this country but in any country.

The point is that volunteerism has already been an American value for a very, very long time. The idea, presented in the op/ed cited, that it is un-American to promote volunteerism is not only factually incorrect, it's also plainly stupid and reveals the opiner to be a fucking clueless twit.

By the way, be thankful it's not mandatory military service like the Israelis have had instituted for years, or like was instituted during the Vietnam War.

Edit: I'm posting this as a comment on that page..

[Devek]

Wow, where are you even getting the mandatory/forced concept out of this...they're providing incentive, not beating you with a whip if you don't

Well, incentives can become a whip if people allow it.

Example..

2010: If you volunteer you only have to pay 5% income tax.
2015: Income tax is raised to 50%
2020: Income tax is raised to 90%

[Norellicus]

But they're not doing that.

[Devek]

Not today..

Ya, but think about all the optional things you can no longer live without. Try living without ID for example...

[Norellicus]

There's a difference between healthy paranoia in the interest of self preservation and panicked paranoia in the interest of avoiding EVERY POSSIBLE BAD THING EVER OMG. Especially when the latter drives you to eschew real progress and improvement in society at large.

Would/could/might...we'll cross that bridge when it happens. Protesting a bill that in no way encroaches on these in its current state is asinine.

[MyTitthias]

"the goal of this legislation is profoundly un-American--to instill an ethic of servitude in every citizen."

"National service would become pervasive and virtually unavoidable -- and that is the goal."

Spin that shit until it pukes!

[Tristam]

As amusing as the article is, I find the comments even funnier.

the comments at the bottom of the article that is.

[Elvis]

I don't mind the idea of community service. I think any dissent on this is due to the context and not to the actual thing in and of itself.

I don't like Obama's foreign policy ideas (although I recognize one person cannot just pull a 180) and so I'm naturally going to be a negative Nancy concerning this sort of thing.

But I dunno enough about it so I won't comment further except to say, socialist/communist/anti-christ/black man ruining everything/Jews/freemasons/9-11 inside job/dinosaurs coming back/anna nicole smith

[Durden]

Let's just go straight to the subject - a comprehensive, non-compulsory national service bill. This is an idea that's been tossed around for decades in this country, and some pieces of it have been implemented already in the form of the Peace Corps, Americorps/City Year, etc.. Private institutions and some companies also have such voluntary community service programs, from serving food at food banks to coaching intramural sports. And of course, military service is the most traditional and honored form of volunteerism not just in this country but in any country.

The point is that volunteerism has already been an American value for a very, very long time. The idea, presented in the op/ed cited, that it is un-American to promote volunteerism is not only factually incorrect, it's also plainly stupid and reveals the opiner to be a fucking clueless twit.

By the way, be thankful it's not mandatory military service like the Israelis have had instituted for years, or like was instituted during the Vietnam War.

Edit: I'm posting this as a comment on that page..

If you would have read the original bill that passed the Senate on Mar 20th you would have noticed the part in the bill where mandatory service was required for everyone age 18-25, it was quickly revised due to an uproar. How is it volunteering if its mandatory, its an American value because its your choice, you choose to serve this country, you choose help the homeless, etc.

[Elvis]

Oh and speaking of paranoia:

U.S. bill seeks to rescue faltering newspapers | Politics | Reuters

Newspapers are failing for a reason - THEY FUCKING SUCK! So now we're going online to figure out what the hell is going on.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it!

[Correction]

I'm sure if I read every unrevised, never-made-it-past-committee bill in the House and Senate I'd be a hyperreactive paraoid nincompoop also.

Thankfully, my education granted me the powers of critical thinking and the ability to not be terrified by things that didn't happen.

[Elvis]

But what if your education was designed to educate you to think you were educated to the extent where you wouldn't doubt your education?