"To what purpose are powers limited, and to what purpose is that limitation committed to writing,
if these limits may, at any time, be passed by those intended to be restrained?"
-- Chief Justice John Marshall, Marbury v. Madison, 1803

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

An absolute must-read about the creepifying national service movement that both the Obama and McCain campaigns heartily support:

Charles Rangel’s National Service Act, which is languishing before Congress, provides for a universal draft with two years for virtually all persons aged 18-42, with no deferment for college. The purpose of Rangel’s bill is:

“To require all persons in the United States between the ages of 18 and 42 to perform national service, either as a member of the uniformed services or in civilian service in furtherance of the national defense and homeland security . . . .”

Here is how the civilian service is described in the bill (sec 102(b)):

a civilian capacity that, as determined by the President, promotes the national defense, including national or community service and service related to homeland security.

Note the interpretation of community service as promoting national defense, just as in Barack Obama’s July 2, 2008 speech, a juxtaposition that confused most bloggers. Under Rangel’s bill, if one is selected for induction into the military, one may choose instead to do civilian service. With unintentional irony the bill calls this mandatory service “Voluntary Service.”

Sec. 103(e) Voluntary Service — A person subject to induction under this title may--

(1) volunteer to perform national service in lieu of being inducted; or

(2) request permission to be inducted at a time other than the time at which the person is otherwise called for induction

.

Look, I think volunteerism is great.  I’ve done my bit, mostly in education.  And I have no problem if a religious group or private group wants to require service—as my synagogue did when I was a kid.  But it’s clear that voluntary service is not what the Cuddle Fascists are talking about:

This is a breathtaking set of proposals that would create a bureaucracy that indeed might be “just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded” as our military. It would be much larger than the military. Note the founding of a new National Service Academy like the existing military academies.

Service Nation’s short-term goal may be a staggering increase in voluntary national service and the federal bureaucracy, but the ultimate goal of Service Nation is a universal draft by the year 2020, as they openly disclose.

P.J. O’Rourke described the logic behind faith-based initiatives as follows: faith-based non-government organizations are more efficient and effective than the government; so the government should take over those organizations.  Now we’re seeing the cancerous spread of this absurd idea into all forms of altruism.  Volunteer work does some good in America, a lot more good that the government does.  So the government is going to make sure we all volunteer.

Yeah.  No negative unforeseen consequences of that.  No generation of Americans will grow up seeing volunteer work as an obligation to get past rather than a lifelong calling.  No, sir.  Nothing to see here.  Move along.  We’re making people moral.  Because, after all, the only morality anyone has is that which is crammed into them by their benevolent government.  If it weren’t for the law, you’d let your kids starve to death while you watched Springer.