Friday, December 23, 2005

Here are SF writer Ben Bova's recommendations for a better future.
Posted by Mac at 2:12 PM

5 comments:

Paul Kimball said...
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10:14 AM
Paul Kimball said...

Researching fusion power - good.

Mandatory public service, of any kind - bad. People should serve, in some capacity, but it doesn't have to be with the government (coaching a kid's hockey team is probably more useful, frankly), and, in a democracy, it should never be mandatory.

Paul

10:15 AM
Mac said...

Paul--

I agree. Talk of mandatory public service gives me the creeps because it implies that *someone else* is doing the mandating...

2:24 PM
W.M. Bear said...

I'm not so sure. I used to think that and on most issues I'm about as liberal as they get. However, one good thing about the draft was in effect was that, at least, the army was composed of "citizen soldiers" (even if most of these were working class and/or minority in origin). At any rate, people felt they had much more of a stake in conflicts like Vietnam that they do now for something like the Iraq war, I think. Certainly, anti-war protest seemed a lot more effective then than now with our army of professional warriors.

Also, we do have compulsory education through G12 on the (in my view correct) theory that an educated populace is necessary for a democracy to work. (In fact, one of the major problems why democracy tends not to work well in third world countries is just the lack of availability of a good secular education among the general populace.)

And so. It's not as oppressive as it sounds. Two years of compulsory public service in something like a "domestic Peace Corps" would give everyone a real, palpable stake in the future of the country. You would have the following choice: The military, the traditional Peace Corps, or service at home. You would be paid minimum wage but then so would everyone else in your age group. At least it would be guaranteed employment and you would be doing well by doing good.

1:41 PM
Mac said...

At any rate, people felt they had much more of a stake in conflicts like Vietnam that they do now for something like the Iraq war, I think.

You may well be right on that. Unfortunately, I see no meaningful distinction between the draft and slavery.

Also, we do have compulsory education through G12 on the (in my view correct) theory that an educated populace is necessary for a democracy to work.

It certainly looks good on paper. But in my experience compulsary schooling is strictly lowest-common-denominator and almost wholly worthless. (Sorry to sound so negative, but I played the game and that's how I feel.)

12:04 AM