Download Weekly Meditation for June 29, 2015 Mandatory National Service

Weekly Meditation for June 29, 2015
Mandatory National Service?
Whenever the reports of another mass shooting, like the one in Charleston, South Carolina, begin
to emerge, this is almost always true: the shooter is a young man, early twenties, most often
white.
People, our society has a problem -- a problem of lost, alienated young men. There are way too
many young men who are are clueless, disconnected, angry and alone. A New York Times
editorial cited at last week’s “What’s Tony Thinking?” estimates there are 5.5 young males
between the ages 16 - 24 who fit this description. They aren’t in school. They aren’t employed.
Their families are often fractured. They have few connections, except possibly the internet.
Five and half million is a lot of people, a lot of young men who are lost and confused, angry and
alone. And they are ready fodder for gangs, extremist groups of all types, white supremacist
organizations, as well as various forms of addiction.
Can anything be done? Of course, there’s no single fix for something as large and complex as
this. But a movement toward requiring two years of mandatory community/ national service of
all young people at age 18 could help. The service could be military, but it could also be
programs like Jobs Corp, Peace Corps, VISTA or any one of the many youth volunteer corp
programs associated with religious bodies, e.g. Mennonite Volunteer Corps.
The country needs the work and so do the young people. Such a program might save some
potential Dylann Roofs from turning their alienation into homicidal rage.
Of course, at this point the word “mandatory” is a sticking point. It sounds un-American. We’re
all about freedom. Nobody tells us what to do. Nothing is required of us. But that’s just
foolishness. Many civilized democracies require service of their young people.
For some participants in such mandatory service, the fruits of participation could include high
school diplomas, self-discipline, job skills, and a structure to life. Yes, such a program would be
a massive organizational undertaking, but our current system of mass incarceration -- no
civilized country has a higher percentage of its citizens in prison -- is also a massive, and costly,
undertaking.
The difference between building a national service program and the largest penal system in the
world is the difference between hope and fear. Our recourse to more and more prisons is fear
driven. A national service program that is for everyone would be driven by hope -- the hope that
everyone can contribute, that there is good work to do, and that the current millions of lost boys
can be mature and contributing men.