For those who don't remember, the 13th Amendment says: "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime ... shall exist within the United States."
In Obama's mind it must be a crime to be born or to attend college.
In his speech on national service last week at the University of Colorado, Obama promised that as president he would "set a goal for all American middle and high school students to perform 50 hours of service a year, and for all college students to perform 100 hours of service a year."
There are any number of angles to go at this story from. The first one is to note the reason why Obama and other "progressives" would be behind this infringement on individual liberties. Clearly liberals would expect that with their control over high schools and universities, that this would be a great opportunity to indoctrinate their students further with their socialist views. Imagine the public schools or the federal government having the power to decide what constitutes public service. I'm guessing it wouldn't be working for your local church group.
So our lib teachers would be mandated to introduce your young skull-full-of-mush to those in need, with no explanation of the concepts of responsibility, of the consequences of poor decisions, etc. In short, we would be teaching kids that lots of people have problems for no particular reason, and it is up to government programs to take care of them. No thank you.
As I've mentioned before, the American people (particularly conservatives) are far and away the most charitable people in the world:
Volunteerism is good. But why does every good thing need to be orchestrated by government? Most people think churchgoing is a good thing. Does that mean government should fund churches? That's what they do in Europe and - surprise! - most pews sit empty.
Americans are vastly more generous with their time and money than Europeans. According to social demographer Arthur C. Brooks, in 1995 (the last year international data on giving was available), Americans gave 3 1/2 times more money to charities and causes than the French, seven times more than Germans and 14 times more than Italians.
In 1998, Americans volunteered 21 percent more than the Swiss and 32 percent more than Germans - two countries with compulsory national service. Yet we're told we should emulate them so that America, too, can have a "culture of service."
But forced charity, i.e., by indentured servitude or taxation, is not charity.
Indeed, there's ample evidence that countries with intrusive, expensive welfare states stifle citizens' spirit of charity and volunteerism precisely because people conclude that government should solve every
Merely paying your taxes substitutes for charity, and cleaning up litter for two years absolves you from doing anything more.
In fairness, Senator McCain is also in favor of government-coerced 'volunteerism.' And he wonders why we laugh when he calls himself a conservative.
"The central conservative truth is that it is culture, not politics, that determines the success of a society," Daniel Patrick Moynihan famously observed. "The central liberal truth is that politics can change a culture and save it from itself."
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