by John McCormick
From Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy to Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, presidents and those who aspire to be president have long put forth calls for greater public service. Some found success, while others fell short of their lofty rhetoric.
Roosevelt formed the Civilian Conservation Corps and Kennedy created the Peace Corps with strong support and participation, while Clinton's AmeriCorps has never fully realized its full potential, hampered by ongoing funding struggles since its 1994 inception.
Still, as Sen. Barack Obama called for greater public service Wednesday, some experts predict the potential now exists for programs seeking an expansion of volunteerism to succeed, despite a slumping economy and the nation being at war.
"This may be a moment in time that is different from when earlier calls did not prove that effective," said Stephen Goldsmith, a former Indianapolis mayor who is now chairman of the Corporation for National and Community Service.
Goldsmith, a Republican and professor at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, said bipartisan support, serious societal problems and heightened interest in service among young people could offer new or expanded service programs the ability for growth not seen in decades
He said surveys show today's youth, a group sometimes called the " 9/11 generation," is deeply attracted to service and has maintained that interest, even as it has fallen off for other age groups following the attacks in 2001.
"It may represent a real shift to interest in community service," Goldsmith said.
With that environment behind him, Obama outlined several proposals to boost service, both at home and abroad, during a speech in Colorado Springs.
"Loving your country shouldn't just mean watching fireworks on the 4th of July," he said. "Loving your country must mean accepting your responsibility to do your part to change it. If you do, your life will be richer, our country will be stronger."
The rest of the story is in Thursday's Chicago Tribune.
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Comments
No problem with service as long as we take over the oil companies, get cradle to grave to health care, and the middle class gets restored. Right now, we're on our own.
Posted by: George Carlin was right--we haven't had a stake in this for awhile | July 3, 2008 7:43 AM
"Loving your country shouldn't just mean watching fireworks on the 4th of July," he said. "Loving your country must mean accepting your responsibility to do your part to change it. If you do, your life will be richer, our country will be stronger."
This is completely silly rhetoric. Becoming, or wanting to become, president has no necessary connection with "loving your country."
Wanting a powerful and prestigious job is overwhelmingly about personal ambition.
Sometimes it is also about having some good ideas you would like to see happen.
But the stuff about "loving your country" is reserved for rubber-chicken dinners and speeches to crowds with bee-hive hair and bellies sprawling over belts.
Posted by: John Chuckman, Toronto, Canada | July 3, 2008 8:29 AM
Multi-millionaire Barack Obama should practice what he preaches.
Obama can go as a Peace Corps volunteer to Kenya, his father's home, perhaps to tell Kenyans how to obtain cut-rate mortgages. And his vast campaign warchest could be put to better use funding all these "public service" programs.
Posted by: Bruce | July 3, 2008 8:47 AM
Here we go again asking people to do public service work. I did public service work for many years and they city did not want to pay us for our work, they put us on the same payscale as a clerk typist, when the postion required a degree and testing to be certified. Let's face it people want to help, but they want to be able to support themselves without getting a part time job on the side to survive.
Posted by: valjean | July 3, 2008 8:51 AM
This is what leadership is about. Keep it up Obama.
Posted by: Joe | July 3, 2008 9:18 AM
Public service? What a silly notion. Screw your neighbor, it's every man for themselves. As long as I make as much money as possible, what else mattters? The common good? Not hardly. That's the Republican way.
Posted by: Typical Republican | July 3, 2008 10:15 AM
Public service is not the same as a city/county/ government worker.
Speaking as a former NCCC member, national service volunteers, do a lot of work that no one else will do.
Americorps was one of the first groups to the katrina affected area, and they are still there, even though it isn't seen as cool anymore to help.
In fact one of Americorps specialties is disaster response. We did more work than fema did, and we did it for a lot less.
National service is a great idea, it helps to bring back a sense of pride in one's area/ city/country.
It also helps to instill a sense of accountability which we as a society sorely lack.
We spend Trillions in wars, destroying lives, but we can't spend a couple million shaping and saving them.
Says a lot about us.
Posted by: Ben L | July 3, 2008 11:03 AM
At $40/hr, there will be a lot of college students lining up for public service.
Posted by: Terry | July 3, 2008 9:21 PM
I am getting petitions to take to washington and a draft of a bill to get to Congress to reactivate the US Civilan Conservation Corps on the same lines as Roosevelt by utalizing the military and the depts of Interior and Agriculture.
I would like some support form readers in what this act should have in it
Jayalexus@yahoo.com
Posted by: Jay D. Alexander | July 5, 2008 3:25 PM