[mattduke]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'L')ast September, our cover story "The Case for National Service" caused an outpouring of interest in and support for citizen service across the country. This year, in addition to publishing another issue on the idea of service, we are convening--along with the Carnegie Corporation of New York and with presenters AARP and Target--a national bipartisan summit in New York City that will bring together hundreds of leading Americans to plan and lay out a bold blueprint on citizen service. The event will start on the evening of Sept. 11--that solemn anniversary seemed an appropriate time to launch this effort--and the meeting itself will occur the next day, Sept. 12. The summit will also be the first major public event for ServiceNation, a national campaign of more than 100 organizations--ranging from AARP to the National Council of La Raza and Habitat for Humanity--that collectively represent some 100 million Americans. My co-chairs at the summit will be Alma Powell, Caroline Kennedy, Carnegie president Vartan Gregorian and AARP CEO Bill Novelli. The summit will be opened by New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg, who himself is an exemplar of citizen service, and will be closed by California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is the first governor to create a cabinet post to oversee service and volunteering.

[Schneider]

Hmm..This is the kind of legitimacy that Obama will like to have on his side when he'll start to remake the world, no ?

[AlexdeLarge]

Unemployment rate drops to zero percent! Who says socialism won't work.

And you thought the zombie hoards would be made up of the undead! LOL

[Kylon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AlexdeLarge', 'U')nemployment rate drops to zero percent! Who says socialism won't work. And you thought the zombie hoards would be made up of the undead! LOL

[Battle_Scarred_Galactico]

Very Soviet Union.

[kpeavey]

Starting to sound like Orwells Reconstruction and Reclamation Corps (“Reeks and Wrecks”).

Would this service be voluntary? Does it become compulsory? Get a welfare check, put in some "service" time. Extend it to other programs-HEAP, WIC, how about as a substitute for student loan payments/defaults? Would it end up as a tax on our time in addition to tax on our income?
Will there be performance standards for the productivity of your voluntary service? Would participants be reassigned to details other than those for which they volunteered?

[mos6507]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Kylon', 'I')nstead of a bunch of wandering disorganized half starved people looking for food, you'll have a well armed, well organized, well fed, well INFORMED group that will know right where your homestead is so they can more easily assist the State in the proper reallocation of your goods.
And after you have no food, they'll be happy to show you to a nice big summer camp that never ends, where you'll meet lots of new people, and get tons of fresh air doing camp activities, like harvesting potatoes, harvesting grain, or harvesting cotton!
You'll have lots of fun at camp FEMA, where everybody's welcome!

[Homesteader]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Battle_Scarred_Galactico', 'V')ery Soviet Union.

[Cloud9]

CCC camps.

[Ferretlover]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Homesteader', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Battle_Scarred_Galactico', 'V')ery Soviet Union.

[Ludi]

If people want to volunteer to help their community, what is stopping them? Why "National Service"? Just go volunteer, for pete's snake! Why need some massive costly bureaucracy?

[kevincarter]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mattduke', '.')..that collectively represent some 100 million Americans.

[gampy]

Yay!

Another thread ruined by Golem!

Back on topic...those 30's-40's war-time stylings on posters always seem to raise the hackles of certain people.

Myself, I thought the cover looked pretty good. Reminded me of those WW2 posters of women building planes, and filling bombs.

As to the story itself, yeah...I am always leery of things called "nationalized service", or what have you.

I am a lefty pinko, but thank the gods that there are enough Republicans out there to protect us from ourselves. The Soviets killed all their Oligarchs, and royalty...look where that got them.

Balance.

It's all about balance, ying and yang.

Hopefully we all prosper somewhere in the middle.

[comprehensive]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', 'I')f people want to volunteer to help their community, what is stopping them? Why "National Service"? Just go volunteer, for pete's snake! Why need some massive costly bureaucracy?

[gampy]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('golem', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('gampy', 'Y')ay!

Yay!

Another thread ruined by Golem!

Back on topic...those 30's-40's war-time stylings on posters always seem to raise the hackles of certain people.

Myself, I thought the cover looked pretty good. Reminded me of those WW2 posters of women building planes, and filling bombs.