Coming Next, an Obama-Corps for America’s Youth

Universal national service for Americans 18-28 is the goal of the most prestigious gathering of the Establishment so far this year, an invitation-only “Summit” presently taking place at the Aspen Institute in Colorado (June 24-25). Two hundred of the shiniest names in philanthropy, government, business, and media — including a sprinkling of Republican notables — will be there to make a year of national service “a common expectation…for all young people.”In the midst of rising public distrust of government and, especially, distrust of the Obama Administration, Administration backers and their allies are launching yet another plan for major expansion of government and Washington’s control over people’s lives.
The old Selective Service System — the draft—broke down in the early 1970s and was replaced by the all-volunteer military, which overall has been a great success. Even forty some years ago the proponents of national service wanted to replace the old Selective Service (a kind of lottery in the end) with a draft for everyone, male and female, used for a variety of purposes besides the military. Now, according to Aspen’s official Summit description, it appears that backers are willing to settle for something less, but still vast: a new “National Service System that will offer at least one million full-time civilian national service opportunities…on par with the more than one million Americans who serve on active duty in our Armed Forces.”

http://spectator.org/archives/2013/06/25/coming-next-an-obama-corps-for