Is the American Youth Ready for Conscription?

– Are the American Youth Ready for Conscription? (Sputnik, June 26, 2015):

The shining future that America once had is all but a page note in the history books now. Record numbers not in the workforce, failed foreign policies and domestic strife is the new normal. And how is the brain trust in DC going to solve these problems? National service for all 18 – to 28-year-olds!

All across the land, people were smiling and laughing. World War II had just ended and America suddenly found itself to be the manufacturing capital of the world. There were plenty of jobs for the average man and the future was bright, even if you didn’t have a college degree. In fact, not many people had a degree, and yet, for those that didn’t, they were still able to buy a car, a house, take several weeks of vacation a year and still be able to have food on the table. Although this was the new normal at the time, today’s new normal is something quite different.

In America today, there are close to 50 million people living in poverty and there are more than 100 million people that get money from the federal government every month. As the middle class continues to disintegrate, poverty is climbing to unprecedented levels. Even though the stock market has been setting record high after record high, the amount of anger and frustration boiling just under the surface in our nation grows with each passing day.

As an example of just how bad off joe-sixpack is these days, the WSJ notes that — “Only 38% said they could cover a $500 repair bill or a $1,000 emergency room visit with funds from their bank accounts.” A person quoted in that article said — “A solid majority of Americans say they have a household budget, but too few have the ability to cover expenses outside their budget without going into debt or turning to family and friends for help.” Further on in that article a survey noted that — “… an unexpected bill would cause 26% to reduce spending elsewhere, while 16% would borrow from family or friends and 12% would put the expense on a credit card. The remainder didn’t know what they would do or would make other arrangements.” Basically, people don’t have any money. But how can that be? Hasn’t Obama saved the American economy? Isn’t the official unemployment rate near 5 1/2 %?

To answer this question, Jim Clifton over at Gallup wrote — “if you, a family member or anyone is unemployed and has subsequently given up on finding a job — if you are so hopelessly out of work that you’ve stopped looking over the past four weeks — the Department of Labor doesn’t count you as unemployed. That’s right. While you are as unemployed as one can possibly be, and tragically may never find work again, you are not counted in the figure we see relentlessly in the news — currently 5.6%. Right now, as many as 30 million Americans are either out of work or severely underemployed. Trust me, the vast majority of them aren’t throwing parties to toast “falling” unemployment.” He goes on to note another reason behind the misleading numbers — “Say you’re an out-of-work engineer or healthcare worker or construction worker or retail manager: If you perform a minimum of one hour of work in a week and are paid at least $20 — maybe someone pays you to mow their lawn — you’re not officially counted as unemployed in the much-reported 5.6%.” But, it doesn’t stop there. He lists the third reason — “….those working part time but wanting full-time work. If you have a degree in chemistry or math and are working 10 hours part time because it is all you can find — in other words, you are severely underemployed — the government doesn’t count you in the 5.6%.” He sums up his article by saying — “The official unemployment rate, which cruelly overlooks the suffering of the long-term and often permanently unemployed as well as the depressingly underemployed, amounts to a Big Lie.”

So, there you have it. The Obama recovery is a big scam. Propaganda, some might say. A facade hiding the festering sore below the surface of polite society. But actually, it is possible to see this by just looking at the headlines over the last few years — “Five teenagers were arrested when a 600-person brawl broke out in a Florida movie theater’s parking lot on Christmas night” or — “Hundreds of teens trash mall in wild flash mob”. In fact, the list goes on and on. What at one time would have been a huge talking point in the media circuit has now just become back page article. So, with the sky-rocketing youth unemployment rate, many government officials are asking what can be done. Not necessarily to provide work- but to create a safety valve for society. And it appears that the answer to this question is — “National service for all 18- to 28-year-olds”.

That’s right. It’s called national service. Not the draft, or conscription or any other word that would have negative connotations. National Service! For your patriotic duty! National Review addressed this issue when it wrote

“ Require virtually every young American — the civic-minded millennial generation — to complete a year of service through programs such as Teach for America, AmeriCorps, the Peace Corps, or the U.S. military, and two things will happen:

1. Virtually every American family will become intimately invested in the nation’s biggest challenges, including poverty, education, income inequality, and America’s place in a world afire.

2. Military recruiting will rise to meet threats posed by ISIS and other terrorist networks, giving more people skin in a very dangerous game.”

So, there you have it. Instead of creating real jobs and rebuilding America and by employing a clever use of language to not call it what it really is — forced slave labor, the brain trust in DC is going to wrap the flag around more failed foreign policies to make sure that everyone suffers. Just like Status Quo sang in that song —“A vacation in a foreign land, Uncle Sam does the best he can.You’re in the army now, oh-oo-oh you’re in the army now. Now you remember what the draft man said, nothing to do all day but stay in bed. You’re in the army now, oh-oo-oh you’re in the army now.”

So, what do you think, “Are the American youth ready for conscription?”