Today it seems that all politics is partisan. When President Trump was in office extending and enhancing unemployment benefits and stimulus checks were a good idea according to Republicans. Now that the pandemic is entering its second year the same policies, now advocated by a Democratic President, are an absolute anathema for those same Republicans. Democrats in Congress have done the same two-faced turnaround when a Republican has replaced their guy. In Washington nothing seems to be accomplished. Furthermore what does get done doesn’t stay done from administration to administration. All of this back and forth and often just plain inertia costs the taxpayers a great deal.
Several reforms can make the system better, for example instituting term limits for US Senators and Representatives. That particular reform would take a constitutional amendment. Another idea is to have redistricting done by a nonpartisan commission so that US Representatives have to represent all of us and worry about general elections more and not just primaries. Now districts are drawn so that they are so heavily Democrat or Republican that the incumbent needn’t worry about placating all their constituents. All they have to worry about is facing a primary challenge from the extremes of their Party which means that Republicans become more and more right wing nuts and Democrats become way out there left wing loonies. As a result, no one works together for the good of the country anymore because it is seen as “treason” by the rabid fringes of the respective parties.
Another possible reform is mandatory universal national service. It would bring young people of different races, backgrounds, socioeconomic status and experiences together and make them work together. That would help to combat racism, give people a taste of other’s cultures and points of view as well as perhaps ease the partisan dogmatism that seems to be strangling our nation.
Several countries have universal military service: Russia, China, Brazil, Sweden, Israel and South Korea to name a few. Other nations have universal service that may mean going into the military but other opportunities exist for service as well; countries with that system include Nigeria, Denmark and Germany.
The United States already has service opportunities like the Peace Corps, AmeriCorps and the Armed Services to name a few. The Center for Benefit-Cost Studies in Education did a study and found that national youth service programs cost the government $1.7 billion but returned goods and services valued at $6.5 billion to the taxpayer. The National Park Service estimates that using the modern day equivalent of the Civilian Conservation Corps would save an average of 65% in operating costs and 87% on backlogged projects. Perhaps more young people would choose military service as a career if they got a “mini-taste” of it first in a two-year commitment via universal national service. Universal national service could include opportunities in our national parks, working in schools, hospitals etc. and need not simply be universal conscription.
Mandatory universal service would be of benefit to young people in several ways. It would give them direction and focus at a point when many of them are unsure as to what to do with their lives. It would give them time to mature, reflect, grow and see something of the country before buckling down to the rest of their adult lives. Surveys of students who took a “gap year” (a year off from school between high school graduation and before eventually pursuing higher education of some kind) reported that 98% said that the gap year helped them develop as people and focus their purpose and ambition. Students who took a gap year had a loftier GPA in higher education than those who didn’t and 97% said that the gap year contributed to them being more mature when they did go back to school.
The Capitol was stormed by domestic insurrectionists, racial minorities are being attacked in our streets, rioters roam with seemingly impunity in our major cities, our political system is paralyzed; perhaps it’s time to try something new.