Simon Tsui
Basically this article is arguing for a universal national service. It states several reasons for this call, some of the more important ones being the fact that Americans simply don’t believe in the government anymore. In fact the article clearly states that while American opinion on democracy and government are at an all time low, the amount of community service is at its pinnacle. While the amount of community service being done is a great thing, it is not the answer to the problem. The problem is that people see community service more as an antidote for public service when it’s not. That is why this article argues for a universal national service that should be implemented into American culture. With these programs, the government hopes to raise the amount of civic duty that gets performed and solve several issues.
The universal national service sounds pretty good for those who enjoy volunteering their time for the greater good of society. However there are several problems that I want to address. First off the amount of money needed to implement these programs is massive. While I agree that most of this money could be gained from cuts off federal prisons and military, there are many people in government who would argue against this. Second, I doubt these acts will ever actually get passed since these programs seem mostly liberal and democratic so expecting huge resistance from the Republican Party. Also another problem is that if universal national service does happen then the chances of requiring by law to participate would rise and that isn’t an appealing idea at all.