In the Declaration of Independence, it says "We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness."
This declaration has been the mission of the United States, and it is one that we try to take optimistically and courageously. Our mission is not an easy one, with drug dealers, war criminals, radical terrorists and expansionist powers, all of whom seek different objectives. So, with the need for the United States to build a bit more muscle to defend itself and protect others, people often raise the argument of a draft.
From the beginning of the American state, national service has been considered an important issue of debate. Many Americans saw it as a necessity to both win independence and to provide a safe future for our country and future generations. The first man ever to propose national service was George Washington, a proposal both Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson backed.
There are, of course, strategic arguments for a national service program. Our increased responsibilities abroad mean that the United States requires citizens who can answer the call. Many democratic nations have recognized these advantages and implemented such programs, including Austria, Brazil, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Israel, Norway, South Korea, Sweden and Switzerland. Many would also argue that as Americans, who have grown up in a comparatively wealthy and privileged nation, we have a moral responsibility to give those in need the ability to raise their children in a world that embraces the freedoms we take for granted every day.
It brings to mind an unusual moral question; imagine you are walking in your neighborhood, and you see a person being attacked across the street, and you know that if you leave their attackers will probably kill him or her. There are no police to call, and you alone have the ability to save them. Would you save them, or would you stand idly by to watch, or simply walk away?
I ask this question, because not only are there dangers 'across the street' from ourselves but quite literally in our own back yard as well. Perhaps we should engage national service as a way to help in our own neighborhoods, as well as abroad. There are a great many places in America where even basic education and health care are not available, where fellow citizens live hungry and in poverty and where violent crime is a daily occurrence. How can we consider ourselves a superpower if we allow things to occur right here at home?
Imagine a nation so dedicated to its ideals that its people are all willing to spend a year or more serving those who need it most, both at home and abroad. A National Service program that allows its citizens the ability to serve both in the defense of our ideals everywhere, through the military, or in the building of a better life both here and abroad, through community service programs like Teach For America, the Peace Corps, AmeriCorps or the American Red Cross.
The difference a national service program could make in neighborhoods ranging from Kabul to the Bronx is extraordinary. But, even beyond that, the training and education it would provide would be invaluable, to both the privileged, and the poor, making it the ultimate socio-economic equalizer; a place where the color of your skin or the amount of your bank account makes no difference; together uniting us as Americans and globally as humanitarians. As President Kennedy so famously said, "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. Ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man."
Michael Cartier is a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences and a conservative columnist for The Eagle. You can reach him at edpage@theeagleonline.com
