Free Press –
Compulsory Service Letter to Charles Meredith
Dear Friends,
Good morning. Last week, I received a verbal thrashing from a reader who unfortunately won’t let me use his name. It’s very well written and highly critical. I’ll call him “Don.” And if there’s room, I’ll have a comment about a column, which appeared in the Washington Post,…amend the U.S. Constitution so voters can recall the President and Vice President.
First, here’s the letter from “Don.”
“Once again, Charles Meredith, our esteemed, former Free Press publisher, has offered his opinion (s) on the subject of…’Compulsory Service’…in his August 9th Free Press Column:
…’This country would be in better shape if every young adult…no exception… had to give two years of service…either military or non military’…
“What Mr.
Meredith has failed to elucidate is just HOW he would ‘discern’ between those
young adults, (
“Given the
present world situation, would it not be safe to suggest that very FEW (if any)
of such
“So…would Mr. Meredith then insist upon reinstituting a compulsory Military Draft through our rather ‘antiquated,’ (all but forgotten) much maligned Selective Service System…in order to ‘fill’ just such a void?
“Anyway, with a ‘stipulated’ two-year term of service, just how much ‘value’ would such recruits ‘add’ to the (21st- century) Armed Forces of the USA?
…“What with the long-term, intensive, very highly technical training required of even the (new) ‘raw’ recruit to function proficiently & effectively within this Nation’s modern-day, battle-ready, military forces,…at LEAST a four-year, active tour-of-duty would seem absolutely mandatory,…mostly spent overseas in a hazardous military ‘hot-spot’…
“Then there is the question of exactly HOW would the government of the USA…PAY…for such a massive (WPA type) program?
“How many MORE ‘bulging’ governmental bureaucracies would necessarily be required simply to supervise, administer & actually operate this ‘monster’ of (essentially) a government mandated public-works project…?
“Even if the ‘CS’ recruits served ‘gratis’ or received very minimal military pay, someone would have to pay for feeding, housing & even transporting them to their respective locations of service…
“Might we also consider the ‘remedial’ academic courses any such ‘CS’ recruits would require,…two years hence…when many would THEN be entering college, for the first time,…somewhat ‘stale’ after two years away from the academic ‘regimen’…?
“And lest we forget,….the many urban, underprivileged, young adults who either ‘drop-out’ or ‘graduate’ high school unable to read, write or calculate at any acceptable, (employable) level…requiring ‘re-education’ in order to perform even ‘entry-level,’ public-service jobs?
“On the ‘bright-side’ of the picture,….a wonderful opportunity for all those foreign students to fill all the ‘vacancies’ that would necessarily arise at our Nation’s colleges & universities, as a result of the continuing two-year postponement of the matriculation of potential U.S. students…
“Then too,…two-year delays in U.S. students embarking upon their chosen vocations/ careers will create some serious competition with foreign workers,…being ‘imported’ to fill the choicest academic, governmental, business & industrial,…vocational assignments here in the USA.
“Oops,…I almost forgot,…we already HAVE an ‘open’ border policy, so potential employers of American workers should have NO problem filling their immediate job quota requirements,…while our own U.S. young adults are fulfilling their two-year ‘CS’ obligation (s)…creating yet another unnecessary ‘drag’ upon our own U.S. economy…
Friends, that’s quite a letter.
“Don” and I have a major disagreement. But for the record, I would not reinstate the draft. My plan is to have each young adult choose his government service…military or non military. Compensation during the two-year compulsory service is the answer. If the U.S. has the greatest need for park rangers, pay the ‘CS’ recruits more money than military recruits. If the U.S. needs soldiers, pay the recruits more than the other specialties.
Yes, it would be expensive. But I believe that ‘CS’ recruits would be better citizens, better students, and better employees if each gave two years of service to the country.
I can only speak from experience. I know several men who flunked out of college because they weren’t ready to be a college student. In the 1950’s, if you flunked out of college, you were drafted into the army. But those who returned after a two-year military hitch were absolutely ready to excel in their college studies.
If “Don” didn’t like my Compulsory Service column, I wonder what he must be thinking when he reads my piece about making urban children safe and ending the poverty cycle? Here’s a clue:
Today, more than 50 percent of urban children fail to graduate from high school. Sixty percent of black males who don’t graduate end up in prison. The price tag…$40,000 per year, per inmate. There are two million Americans in jail today. That’s a cost of $80 billion every year.
“Don” my solution is to run urban public schools 24 hours, seven days each week, 52 weeks of the year. That way, children would be safe, fed, and have proper role models in their teachers. Yes, it would be expensive. But in the space of just one generation, the endless poverty cycle would end…according to me.
As Derek Bok, the President of Harvard, once said, “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance!”
I’m sure that “Don” will tell me a thing or two about…and soon.
Sincerely,
Charles Meredith
PS. Space ran out so I’ll delay my thoughts about recalling an unpopular President and Vice President. Impeaching George W. and “Darth Vader” is unlikely. But a Washington Post columnist had a novel suggestion…Amend the U.S. Constitution so voters could recall the President and Vice President. Stay tuned.