National service

Is now the time to institute national service? I don't mean two years
in the army for the right to go to school. I mean two years of
national service. That might mean in the military, but it could also
mean building houses along the gulf coast, or creating green spaces in
urban environments. In short there are countless ways we can foster a
sense of national service across the country, without the
radioactivity of a national military draft.

I think one of the reasons there is so much apathy toward politics
(and so much enthusiasm for the Obama campaign) is that young
Americans are actually frustrated by not being called into service.
After 9/11 we were told to go shopping, when the Iraq War became issue
#1 we were told that there would be little by way of national
sacrifice, our taxes wouldn't even go up. Now we face gas running
towards $4 a gallon and the president hasn't even asked Americans to
car pool.

While the population has been told to ignore the issues of a
generation while those older and wiser take care of it, all of those
probelms have gotten worse. This has created a deep-seeded desire for
our generation to actually get out there and solve a problem or two.

I wonder if there is a presidential candidate with the backbone to
make it part of their agenda.