In an issue devoted to ?giving back,? U.S. News & World Report features a pro & con discussion of compulsory national service.
The Heritage Foundation?s Matthew Spalding offers the following remarks in opposition to forced service:
Volunteerism, what Alexis de Tocqueville called our ?spirit of association,? is in the national DNA. Policymakers have long recognized the importance of citizen engagement and philanthropic volunteerism to a thriving civil society.
But government should not attempt to compel its citizens to engage in these worthwhile endeavors. It proper role is merely to energize a culture of personal commitment to those in need as a way of strengthening the natural grounds of citizenship and community.
The goal of citizen service should be to protect and strengthen civil society. Tocqueville observed that one of American society?s great virtues is its tendency to create voluntary associations to meet the most important needs of the people. Other nations handled these needs through and by government; but in the United States, private individuals of all ages, conditions, and dispositions formed associations.
