September 1, 2008

"Barack Obama will require you to work."

If you are at all young, he wants you out in the community, picking up trash and the like.

I hope the people in the community will do their part and keep littering, so the young people can learn the lessons the government wants to teach them. This is a mandatory program, 50 hours a year for public middle and high school students. So that's a lot of littering we need to keep this program going. As for college students, they'll have a choice, but they "will be induced to do 100 hours of service each year at an effective salary of $40 an hour tax free." Yes, the rich will be absolved. They can go to private school and, later, blow off a $4,000 tax credit. But if they are civic-minded, they can be helpful and stroll around the community from time to time, littering.

AND: I think children are already forced to work when they are sent to school. School is work. Respect that work. Let them know that it is work, and it's their job. And when they are done, let them play. Let them have their free time. Don't appropriate any more of their time. How dare you!

119 comments:

Unknown said...

Yes! Graffiti cleanup!

He's got my vote.

(Also, broken glass in the sand at the beach.)

Beta Conservative said...

I have a bit of disconnect with the whole "volunteerism = mandatory" deal. Can anyone explain this?

Meade said...

Maybe Obama could lead by example: he could start flicking his cigarette butts.

Roger J. said...

Why does this sound like a CETA project?

Anonymous said...

This way, untold millions of kids will be "encouraged" to grow up to be "community organizers"!

rhhardin said...

Meaningless work teaches children valuable lessons for later in life.

UWS guy said...

So...I wake up this morning to see an anonymous death threat in my inbox. caio!

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

So Obama thinks Americans are like prison inmates - and he envisions our youth stabbing trash in orange vests by the highway.

OK.

Tax the rich.

Einfahrt said...

The contrast couldn't be starker.

He comes from a world of organizing dysfunctional neighborhoods were the denizens must be forced to clean their streets.

Palin from a world where the denizens hunt and fish, and eat their catch!

Biden and McCain, where the denizens eat each other.

Are any of these examples, worldviews, the ones we want forming policy? Of them, which seems more approriate for the U.S. at this time?

Peter V. Bella said...

Jim said...
I have a bit of disconnect with the whole "volunteerism = mandatory" deal. Can anyone explain this?


It is easy to explain. The government will fund service programs which will create jobs for professionals in the social service field. They were devasted by the disaster called welfare reform. Many were reduced to actually going out and getting real jobs.

It is the same thing welfare did. It was not about alleviating poverty. It was about creating good paying jobs for people in the social service field. They were the only true beneficiaries of the welfare system.

There is a term for this. Financing failure.

There is a worse concept at play; political indoctrination.

Peter V. Bella said...

Roger J. said...
Why does this sound like a CETA project?


I remember CETA. What an abject failure that was.

David Walser said...

These mandatory service programs bother me, a lot. A couple of years ago, my daughter was subject to one of these "voluntary service" requirements (she was a member of the National Honor Society). Her hours of service given through church or her work as a youth camp counselor didn't count towards this service requirement. Instead, she had to volunteer for some program that had been vetted by the school (church sponsored charities and church camps didn't qualify). She could have quit the National Honor Society; instead, she ended up picking up litter behind a St. Patrick's Day parade.

My fear is that Obama's program will suck up all the available volunteer hours -- giving government effective control over virtually anything done in the not-for-profit sector. That can't be a good thing.

Host with the Most said...

Sincere question:

Why, if the liberal mindset is so compassionate, is it necessary to force people to do good work. If all of the people in America associated with liberal values (Democrats, feminists,et al) actually were walking the walk and put their feet where their mouth is and did this kind of stuff already, would we actually be needing to force everybody else to do it? I mean, we're always told that the American people hold the same views as the Democrat party, and those that don't are "extremists".

Do we already see this stuff being done freely by every liberal and by every Democrat already?

Why not?

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

How anyone could trust the democrats to be in charge of the tax code is beyond me. Ridiculous schemes that only further us down the road to nanny state socialism and complicate an already ridiculous tax code.
How does this make college affordable? Please. (the real reason government run schools are so expensive is that they are government run schools! Feed the bureaucracy)

Americans want to simplify the tax code. hopefully parents don't want Jr. to stab trash on the highway to pay for college.

How about the old fashioned way to pay for stuff you want? Get a dignified job.

Freeman Hunt said...

If we're going to make people go out and work, why don't we start with people collecting welfare?

Unknown said...

This sounds a lot like community service that people get when they commit a misdemeanor. If I do all this, does this mean I get a free crime?

Host with the Most said...

And how much is this going to add to the federal bureacracy? How much will all of this "free" labor literally cost for management and tracking?

Host with the Most said...

And, there be police with guns around, making sure that no kid jumps the line?

Host with the Most said...

And what about the kids/college students that don't comply?

Jail time?

Fine, and if not paid, then Jail time?

Jeff Gee said...

So what's the slogan gonig to be? "Work Is Freedom?"

Joe Giles said...

They're going to need a lot of people to polish the Obama statues.

Roger J. said...

Ah Peter--being an old fart has its advantages--I can drive in the left lane at 55 miles an hour with my turn signal blinking, and in the south drivers wont honk--they will say "bless his heart."

Obama clearly does NOT remember CETA--and anyone who proposes a program like Obama has proposed is condemned to repeat the past.

Anonymous said...

Why does it sound like the Obama Youth?

Randy said...

Sounds like the Hitler Youth Corps to me. All they need is a special salute. Never mind, I think they have that already.

reader_iam said...

If your kid already does community/volunteer work because of what you do and how you're raising him, does he or she get an exemption? Or does it have to be an "approved" activity, determined, controlled, monitored and judged by the government?

Hell, my kid'll is highly likely to exceed that 50 in the next nine months, and he's 8. This is gimmicky shit, and, IMNSHO, inappropriate and highly suspect.

Get your mitts off my kid!!!! (And other people's, too!!!!) You have enough to worry about in terms of what your actual role, and the actual role of the government, ought to be.

Sheesh!!!!!!!! What the hell is UP with people?

Skyler said...

The first black candidate, the one whose ancesters were the ones selling their neighbors into slavery, now thinks he needs to reinstitute slavery. By making his neighbors slaves.

Furthermore, this plan would be taking business from legitimate companie that pick up litter. Who thinks that high school kids can pick up trash as efficiently as a business can? Let's see, high school kids required to give up several weekends to pick up trash and complete their requirement no matter how much they pick up compared to people paid to pick up trash and rewarded with continued employment if they do a good job? Hmm. That's a tough one.

So not only is this a blatant human rights abuse, it's a really stupid economic model as well.

New Obama motto: We'll punish honest businesses so that we can punish your children too!

Peter V. Bella said...

If Obama is going to force my kid to work, then my kid will get paid for it. I think forty doolars an hour in my kid's pocket is better than the old tax credit scam.

Mandated labor without pay is.....





Slavery.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Essentially - Obama is going to tax the parents and then force the kids to work some BS "community service" to help pay for college.

brilliant.

Host with the Most said...

"Slavery."

That actually has promise as a comeback to this hair-brained government-mandated program - just the first of many more to come under the Democrats, I promise you.

Asante Samuel said...

Cheech Marin- "Push the car? Get yo mama to push the car."

I'm with Cheech.

Edgehopper said...

I went to a private high school that had a community service requirement of about 25 hours per year--my sister and I both did 50. The school had a liberal definition of service, so both of us were able to do our service in places that interested us. I volunteered as an assistant teacher at Sunday School at our synagogue, and then as a public programs volunteer at the Great Lakes Science Center (doing demonstrations and stuff for guests.) My sister volunteered at an animal shelter and a nursing home.

If we had been forced to spend our time picking up litter in a government approved program, I strongly doubt we would have spent all those hours doing the work more suited to our talents--we just wouldn't have had the time. I'll leave it to you to determine which is more important: picking up litter or teaching children science, caring for abandoned animals, and caring for the elderly.

Fen said...

Yes, the guy who sports a political alliance with Marxist Bill Ayers wants to create a "domestic peace corps" on size with the military.

They'll be used to make sure everyone is out participating in Obama's mandatory work camps. Maybe we can give them little armbands so we know who's running the show?

Expat(ish) said...

Hmm, my children attend private school (sue me: I believe in high quality liberal arts eduction - not what I got in public school) so would they be O'slavin for the man too?

Probably not, which is just another area where they can do sports, music, or study - and get even farther in front of the pubsec kids.

Cool!

-XC

former law student said...

“Barack Obama will require you to work. He is going to demand that you shed your cynicism. That you put down your divisions. That you come out of your isolation, that you move out of your comfort zones. That you push yourselves to be better. And that you engage. Barack will never allow you to go back to your lives as usual, uninvolved, uninformed.”

Here "the work" Michelle is talking about is not picking up litter in parks. As she goes on to explain, the work is shedding, relinquishing, coming out, moving out, pushing oneself, and engaging. In other words, stop living passively in your own dream world.

In this speech I heard (blasphemous) echoes of Mark 8:34-35, but mostly Gil Scott-Heron:

You will not be able to stay home, brother.
You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out.
You will not be able to lose yourself on skag and skip,
Skip out for beer during commercials,
Because the revolution will not be televised.

Bender R said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Palladian said...

We should be discouraging people from going to college. There are already far too many people in college that don't belong there, and most college educations are worthless anyway, so we're just causing people to incur massive debt for a misguided and marginally useful waste of 4 years or more. We should be paying people not to go to college.

As for the Obama Youth Corps, any non-voluntary service required by the government, save for conscription in the most dire circumstances, is tyranny, pure and simple. The State cannot engineer communities by forcing "volunteerism". They already take a significant portion of people's earnings under threat of loss of liberty, now they want to take people's time in the same manner?

Revolting.

Bender R said...

The best community service that a young person can do is to get a real job.

Where did this idea come from that, not only are the rich the bad guys, but working in an everyday job contributes nothing to society, that simply working a job benefits only the self, and not co-workers or the community at large?

It is the everyday worker -- McDonald's burger flippers included -- who are the life-blood of the economy. Their work and production provides services and goods for the public, which provides the money to create jobs for co-workers.

And that is an infinitely greater public benefit than doing work for no pay, which takes paid work away from other people who rely on such jobs to support themselves and their families. Rather than helping others, you end up throwing some of them into poverty.

Quit trying to reinvent the world. Quit trying to create your utopia, your secularized heaven on earth. You only end up creating hell instead. Socialism and its cousins are amongst the greatest lies ever perpetuated.

Ben (The Tiger in Exile) said...

The rich kids will do community service, too -- they want to go to a good college, after all.

Trumpit said...

Cinderella McBush collected $6,000,000 for looking pretty. (If you like the blond white trash look.) She's sitting pretty, too. Other people have to labor in massive quantities so she can dazzle the easily duped to work for her at low wages. Tax her to the hilt to spread the wealth around. The maybe we can all afford a trip to the south of France and own at least one decent humble abode. I want the trash picker uppers to be the commentators on this blog. All they do is talk trash and pollute the earth with their garbage and nonsensical, empty talk.

Roger J. said...

Too bad Obama has apparently never read Tocqueville's Democracy in America--America is about volunteerism, which by its very nature is given and not extracted. That Obama fails to recognize this basic fact says lots about his world view. But when your models are Alinsky and Ayers, there you have it. One more time: a volunteer gives of his or her own volition which is why it is to be admired. If rewarded, it is no longer volunteerism and simply another CCC/CETA type job.

Roger J. said...

having a bad morning, Trumpit? didnt have your morning BM?Cinderella McBush--your originality is indeed impressive. Must have got that sobriquet from DU or KOS--way to go.

Palladian said...

"As she goes on to explain, the work is shedding, relinquishing, coming out, moving out, pushing oneself, and engaging. In other words, stop living passively in your own dream world."

The Democratic party and "progressivism" will cease to exist in that case.

Anyway, it is not within the government's proper scope or powers to ask or expect me to "shed, relinquish, come out, move out, push myself, or engage". As I said, that is tyranny.

Anonymous said...

Reason number 4,305,509 to homeschool.

Palladian said...

"having a bad morning, Trumpit?"

Psychiatric medication non-compliance is a serious problem.

Anonymous said...

"Barack will never allow..."

Dictator in Chief, is it, complete with Black Muslim enforcement squads?

o-BA-ma
o-BA-ma
o-BA-ma
...

Peter V. Bella said...

Randy said...
Sounds like the Hitler Youth Corps to me. All they need is a special salute. Never mind, I think they have that already.


Here it is

EnigmatiCore said...

Seems that Obama is quite a high price to pay to ensure that you don't get another John Roberts on the Supreme Court.

Beta Conservative said...

So if I want to go to the South of France Cindy McCain has to pay for it?

What if I just want to go to a Brewers game? Or to Ann Arbor to visit my daughter? How much is Cindy on the hook for?

I just feel like an idiot, I've been using my own money for this stuff (which I get by volunteering as long as my employer pays me).

former law student said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
former law student said...

Seems that Obama is quite a high price to pay to ensure that you don't get another John Roberts on the Supreme Court.

In retrospect, W. was far too high a price to secure my gun rights. I'm between a rock and a hard place.

tdocer said...

Peter, your answer to Jim's question was perfect.

Trumpit, what?

Next step: re-education camps? This is utter nonsense.

former law student said...

it is not within the government's proper scope or powers

Ah. Michelle was being John the Baptist to Obama's Messiah, not talking about the government. Read Mark 8:34-35.

fixed

J. Cricket said...

Congratulations on your new position as GOP blogger!

That is so cool that you get paid to do this!!

Peter V. Bella said...

Palladian said...
The State cannot engineer communities by forcing "volunteerism".

You never heard Obama’s campaign slogan?

YES WE CAN!!!!!

Peter V. Bella said...

Trumpit,

Obama has a cure for you too. Mandatory medication. In your case it would be mandatory electric shock treatments.

Palladian said...

"AND: I think children are already forced to work when they are sent to school. School is work. Respect that work. Let them know that it is work, and it's their job. And when they are done, let them play. Let them have their free time. Don't appropriate any more of their time. How dare you!"

That is an excellent point.

garage mahal said...

Re-education Camps! Hitler Youth Corps! Black Muslim Enforcement Squads!

RUUUUUUUUUUUUN!!!! And look out for that lone diarist on Dkos on the grassy knoll.

LOL. Nobody, and I mean nobody can throw hysterical hissy fits like Republicans.

JAL said...

former law student said: Here "the work" Michelle is talking about is not picking up litter in parks. As she goes on to explain, the work is shedding, relinquishing, coming out, moving out, pushing oneself, and engaging. In other words, stop living passively in your own dream world."

Well, yes, but Obama's plan for mandatory volunteer service (remember that civilian army thing?) is found on the campaign's page.

There was quite a discussion about this over on Volokh a couple days ago (Jim Lindgren is writing about it August 28, August 31, and today, Sept 1) Take a look at volokh.com.

Schools which do not comply will not get federal funds. Private schools are exempt. (Good for thee, but not for me.)

Working in the library (school or public) will not count, nor will (as the NHS poster mentioned) church or synagogue (or mosque, I suppose) volunteer nursery school hours work.

None of my kids threw trash out the window of the car. They shouldn't have been *made* to pick up other people's trash.

They grew up to do things trivial volunteer work like serve in the US Army, volunteer as a physician in Moldova, work with younger 4-H kids ... Sheesh, I mow part of my neighbor's lawn because she makes me.

I do not know why this type of language does not curl the toes of everyone who hears it.

Obama's plan for America (I almost put a "k" in) is very very intrusive.

We are not a community that needs to be organized.

NoBorg said...

There's people fuming about this stuff all over the internet. As fearsome as it sounds, I have to say I'm not too concerned as I can't imagine anything like this actually becoming law, and I also can't imagine Obama being dumb enough to expect that the public would accept it. Would Americans actually tolerate their kids being forced to join the Obamajugend? Question is, though, why is he talking about it then? Who is this nonsense intended to appeal to?

Too bad. I would have tried to make a few bucks selling "Arbeit Macht Frei" T-shirts to the young conscripts and their parents who had a sense of humor.

Balfegor said...

This is a mandatory program, 50 hours a year for public middle and high school students.

Just fire the janitors and make them clean their own schools. That said, though, I don't see why the National government would be doing this. At least NCLB and its testing regimes had some connexion to making sure federal funds were being used right.

former law student said...

Well, yes, but Obama's plan for mandatory volunteer service (remember that civilian army thing?) is found on the campaign's page.

I agree this is stupid. The oxymoron should have tipped Obama off. I do not look forward to an American version of the Young Pioneers, each with a kerchief around his/her neck.

There are plenty of opportunities to serve in every community. Think of GHW's thousand points of light.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
tdocer said...

Nobody can swallow bait like Democrats, eh garage?

So, you think mandatory volunteerism is a good idea? "Free" compulsory labor? On approved projects only, of course...

AllenS said...

When I age, and have to wear the senior diapers, I would like to request from Obama that garage mahal send one of his daughters over to my house to change my diapers.

Automatic_Wing said...

Just fire the janitors and make them clean their own schools.

Actually not a bad idea. Japanese school kids clean their own classrooms and even help serve each other lunch. I think this does help develop a sense of responsibility.

Randy said...

Just fire the janitors and make them clean their own schools.

The unions won't like that!

save_the_rustbelt said...

Local governments will have to hire many, many bureaucrats in order to plan, supervise and account for these programs.

This is really a jobs program for political hacks.

There is enough trash in Detroit to keep the entire company busy. The mayor is distracted, what with his indictments and all.

Roger: love the CETA comment - wasn't that a cluster mess?

Cedarford said...

Nice of Michelle to warn us of the Obamessiah's planned "tough love" of mandatory work for future generations only. After the Boomers, Gen X, Gen Y skated out of it.

AND left the same young fools who are supposed to pick up trash to get mandatory "work hours" to graduate ALSO saddled with paying off all Bush's trillions China IOUs for Neocon's wars and tax cuts for the wealthy.

AND paying much higher FICA for older people retiring that the government those older generations elected, pissed away their SS surplus on earmarks and other reckless spending. AND outsourced a good portion of the good-paying jobs younger people once could get.

Lessons learned?

1. It is slave labor unless everyone is "conscripted". Meaning all the older people that avoided "mandatory service" should also put in their mandatory 50 hours a year documented by an official government employee checking kid's compliance. Or pay a 40 buck an hour fine for each "service hour" some wealthy retired trial lawyer playing golf in Sedona, black welfare granny, or Harvard professor neglects to do.

2. It would be very hard for the parents and community to accept the dictates of educrats or professional activists WHAT constitutes acceptable "conscription work" without them having a say in it.

3. The Obamabots would likely have to accept that the "free work" would not only have to be shared
by young and old alike, but that the work "options" would be expanded past liberal democrats dream list.
Meaning JrROTC would count, and suburbs could vote to have their kids plant daffodils in a park rather than be bused to an inner city to clean up trash in a neighborhood they don't live in.

4. And no reason why voters could not expand the work requirement from 50 to 500 hours a year for HS dropouts to maintain their eligibility for any gov't benefits.
Or require prisoners and parolees to do 500 hours a year. Or Democrats in the Teacher's NEA to do 200 hours of "free work" as part of their contract.

Lisa said...

Who is going to be responsible for finding these opportunities, tracking student hours, supervising them during these hours and transporting them?

I bet it will be the school.

I've taught in schools that had mandatory public service and it was always pushed onto the teachers' shoulders.

Roger J. said...

rustbelt: you were clearly around to see it--too bad there are so many youngsters who dont remember it and now think it good public policy.

I'm Full of Soup said...

If you have ever been to a little league game you know that almost every frigging parent attends every game. God forbid Junior does anything without Mom & Dad critiquing him.

That means when Junior is forced to pick up trash, Mom & Dad will be there too. I can't wait to see that.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kirby Olson said...

So THAT'S what he means by change:
Arbeit macht frei.

Steven said...

"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."

You'd think the former president of the Harvard Law Review would know this. But, then, he seems to subscribe to the view that the living Constitution actually means whatever "progressives" like himself decide it should mean.

Methadras said...

Yeah, I can see the sloganeering now:

"Volunteer Workers of the World, Unite"

Trumpit said...

Face it Jimbo, you are a slave. If you don't work, you don't eat. If you don't eat, you'll starve and die. Nobody will give a damn, either. You are Cinderella McBush's slave. Enjoy.

vbspurs said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
vbspurs said...

JFK asked. Obama demands.

Meet the New Left. Nothing like the New Frontier.

Peter V. Bella said...

tdocer said...
So, you think mandatory volunteerism is a good idea? "Free" compulsory labor? On approved projects only, of course...


On approved government funded projects…
You left out the part where the tax payer gets screwed again.

Peter V. Bella said...

Trumpit said...
Face it Jimbo, you are a slave. If you don't work, you don't eat. If you don't eat, you'll starve and die. Nobody will give a damn, either. You are Cinderella McBush's slave. Enjoy.


And what are you? A free loader living on government grants? A scam artist living on SSI? Or are you still living off of mommy and daddy bankrupting them and breaking their hearts?

Peter V. Bella said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

I still have to wonder how HE gets around that sticky 13th amendment issue

Roger J. said...

trumpit--go take a shit man--it will do you good--you got all those toxins running around in your colon--pinching off a load will do you a world of good. You see? all of lifes woes can be reduced to taking a good dump--titus knows that.

Trumpit said...

I don't respond to the massively ignorant. That's you Mister Bella, a big, toilet-trained fool. Back to work, Bella, you're my SLAVE!

Peter V. Bella said...

So, it must be true. Trumpit is living off the tax payer teat.

Hey, Strumpit, I aint no slave. Now I must ready myself for hunting season. But first I will fire up a small cigar and celebrate the arrival of Fall. The time of year when people are allowed to kill animals to grace their table with the bounty of nature.

I'm Full of Soup said...

If the $4,000 college credit is adopted under an Obama presidency, will people still complain they can't afford to goto college?

Fen said...

If the $4,000 college credit is adopted under an Obama presidency, will people still complain they can't afford to goto college?

Yup. Because the cost of college is overpriced. Now that tuition will be propped by your tax dollars, administrators can bump the price up even further.

Kev said...

On last night's mega-thread (and its morning follow-up), a couple people tossed out the idea that the country is so polarized that it might be tilting towards civil war.

I realize that a proposal like the Obama Youth Corps has little chance of becoming law (at least without major, major modifications), but in a worst-case scenario (i.e. a President Obama with a filibuster-proof Dem Congress), all bets are off. And if it passed, this form of governmental intrusion that basically enslaves our most precious resource--children--might well compel some people to take up arms and get our nation back (for at that point, it would have been taken away from us).

Or I could paint a rosier picture: If private schools are exempt from this proposal, you might well see people pull their kids from public schools so fast that it would make your head swim. If this brought upon the end of the public schools (or at least their reinvention from the ground up), that might not be a bad thing: Private schools tend to have more parent involvement, their administrators tend to be active teachers (rather than those who taught 20-30 years ago), and there's not nearly so much union membership as in the public schools. It might turn out OK after all.

And Althouse's comment that school is a kid's job is right on target. I could see that "mandatory voluntarism" getting in the way of homework--not to mention a kid's actual, well, being a kid--pretty quickly.

Cedarford said...

Bella - The time of year when people are allowed to kill animals to grace their table with the bounty of nature.

Nothing like the smell of deer blood and the sight of a fresh steaming gut pile to make you appreciate a cold, crisp November day out in the woods with friends - even more.

Fen said...

"Just fire the janitors and make them clean their own schools."

"The unions won't like that!"

Hey, will WE be allowed to form a Union? Camp Workers United?

And why are they hauling Billy Bob off to a "re-education" center?

Fen said...

You too Kev. Watch how you say things. The last guy got smacked around with a baton for asking after our water rations.

save_the_rustbelt said...

I don't have a big problem with youngsters who receive an education from the taxpayers doing a little service, we used to get out of study hall to clean erasers, mop locker rooms and other things to help the janitor (and getting the hell out of study hall was a treat anyway).

This did not require a federal law, regional and district supervisors, time keepers, management consultants and a whole infrastructure to keep it moving.

Peter V. Bella said...

"Just fire the janitors and make them clean their own schools."

"The unions won't like that!"



Then we get rid of the unions and anyone else who stands in the way of reducing government waste.

dick said...

Noborg,

Regardless of whether this would happen now or not, the mere fact that the candidate for president of the USA would even think of making this a law and he is still supported by the party is scary enough to make people do all they can to stop this nonsense immediately. Obama needs to reject this thought or else say he truly means it and intends to do this. There should be no question when it comes to items like this one. If a few people accept it now how long before they get it passed and approved and our children made into serfs like this.

1775OGG said...

So, Obama is going though with having a civilian "volunteer" force, his blue shirt army of Obamanons. Will Hollywood produce PSA videos encouraging youth and other Americans to join up? Will there be penalties for those who do not join?

The Socialist/Democrat Party cries about freedom of speech, denying that right to its opponents, freedom of thought, except when others oppose them, and fair and just treatment, except for those who try to exercise it.

Current events are looking more and more like a repeat of the 1930s with Obama playing the part of either Father Coughlin or Hughie Long; our own home grown little Hitler wannabes.

Americans said after WWII that it couldn't happen here and yet many on the Left are trying to bring that about.

Joe said...

I've said before that Obama is a Marxist and Leninist. In addition to his use of "equal pay for equal work" mantra, this should remove all doubt.

Zaplito said...

Obama needs to realize how many young people already do these types of service--often in faith-based organizations and churches. I get the feeling that as Dems usually think it doesn't count if it's not connected to the Government or some Government program. I find that annoying.

rhhardin said...

and it's their job.

No, the thing about a job is that your time and effort is worth less to you than it is to your boss.

You sell for more than it's worth, and the boss buys for less than it's worth.

Both sides make a profit.

This is very general, and the whole reason that you want economic activity. Not to keep people off the streets, but because every voluntary transaction raises the standard of living, owing to this mutual profit.

Kids are not in that position. They'd rather play. It's punishment that's keeping them in line.

To say that is job-like doesn't understand what a job does.

Just let the kids know they're slaves to your interest, and leave it at that. When they grow up, they can do something they like.

Zaplito said...

Government Program--Peace Corp
Daughter of friends went into Peace Corp. We paid for her training, language acquisition, transportation and living in a third world Latin country. She made friends with the locals in two villages and helped the people of one of the villages mobilize to build a park and playground. Cost? I think they estimate $50,000 a year to put a PC person on the field.

This summer my church sent three van loads of teens to Mexico. They build a house for a poor but working class Mexican family through the efforts of a local church in Mexico. Took them one week. Cost? The whole dea--project and transportation-- cost $10,000 which the kids raised through projects and sales all year. What little they couldn't raise came out of their own pockets. Nobody paid more than $200.

Which do you think Obama and his kind will be approving of, excited about and trying to "demand" us to do?

Physics Geek said...

This is a mandatory program, 50 hours a year for public middle and high school students.

Mandatory? When my son reaches middle school? My response is short: make me. I'll take a different job and homeschool my children before I let the state add enforced servitude to its laundry list of sins.

LoafingOaf said...

Yes, the rich will be absolved. They can go to private school

Yeah. Except most private schools already force their students to do a lot of extra work like this. At my school they would have a rotation where you'd be assigned for several weeks throughout the year to clean up the school after school. The maintance staff would assign you to a job, such as vacuuming the classrooms. Also, at lunchtime, two students at each table per week were the "waiters" and had to get the food for the table and clean up the dishes and table after.

We weren't forced to do community service, but I think the school has since added such a requirement in recent years.

Revenant said...

So...I wake up this morning to see an anonymous death threat in my inbox.

That's why I post under an alias. There are a lot of crazies out there.

Revenant said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Eli Blake said...

revenant:

I post under my own name, and I've gotten a couple of death threats.

So what? I choose not to hide behind a phony front. If there really is somebody out there who is going to throw their whole life away just to 'get' some minor character who has a blog then I'm not going to let that prevent me from speaking out. Under my own name.

Eli Blake said...

Also-- let me tell you about my wife's grandfather.

He went to work in the conservation corps during the New Deal. They put him to work carving hiking trails in Zion and Bryce Canyon, and he became a heavy equipment operator.

Here is what he gained from it: 1. an apprecation for work and a strong work ethic. He took pride in the job he did and never failed to tell his grandchildren about it decades later. 2. He learned to operate heavy equipment, and when he returned home after World War II he made a career out of it.

So in exchange for a few Federal dollars, FDR gave him 1) an appreciation for work and pride in doing it, and 2) a career later on in life.

Michael S said...

Eli Blake said...

Also-- let me tell you about my wife's grandfather.

He went to work in the conservation corps during the New Deal. They put him to work carving hiking trails in Zion and Bryce Canyon, and he became a heavy equipment operator.



Great. But his involvement in CCC was not mandatory, was it?

Fen said...

Okay guys, cool it. The ObamaShirts are headed this way. Look busy sorting trash so we don't have to stay late again.

Steven said...

Well, hey, Fidel & and Raul Castro make Cuban schoolkids labor in the sugarcane fields, why shouldn't Barack Obama, as long as he's delivering universal healthcare, make American schoolkids labor for the government?

Merge Divide said...

Hey guys! How have you been?

I've been doing a lot of thinking about the recent events, and I composed another long blog post about it. I thought about posting it in its entirety here, but remembered that a few of you got a bit sore that I did that last time. So as a special treat, I'm going to share a preview here on this blog a day ahead of time.

Enjoy!

"Here's another question that's gnawing at me- If the Palins were so concerned about Bristol's privacy, why did they choose to throw their kid under the bus when it became politically expedient to do so? If they were genuinely concerned about making sure her pregnancy did not become an issue, they could have simply kept her out of the public eye for the next two months. That's what they wanted to do anyway. Instead they decide to quell those "nasty rumors" by dropping the dime on their daughter. They could have simply released Trig's birth records instead, and everyone would have gotten red in the face and slinked away. Something is definitely rotten in the Great White North Territory. This needs to be addressed. The Palin family and the McCain campaign have made it all fair game right from the beginning."

Revenant said...

So in exchange for a few Federal dollars, FDR gave him 1) an appreciation for work and pride in doing it, and 2) a career later on in life.

So obviously it is a good idea to force children to work for the government. They will learn appreciation for government work, pride in doing what the government orders them to do, and a career working for the government later on.

But why limit this to just children? After all, there are plenty of adults who don't appreciate the value of working for the government, and altogether too many who do not follow government orders. Imagine how much better American society would be if the government told adults when to work, who to work for, and what sort of work they would be doing! Why, surely utopia would be just around the corner.

Or, you know, we could stick to that whole "individual freedom and liberty" thing we've been running with for the last 232 years. Its crazy, I know, but it might be worth a shot.

Fen said...

Can we just call Merge "spam" and delete him? I'm getting tired of all these drive by propagandists with the same stale talking points by Team Obama.

Revenant said...

If they were genuinely concerned about making sure her pregnancy did not become an issue, they could have simply kept her out of the public eye for the next two months.

I'm sure the press would never have noticed that the Palins' 17-year-old daughter had vanished into thin air. And certainly left-wingers would have never tried to figure out what happened to her. Finally, under no circumstances would it have been humiliating to the daughter to be hidden from public view until her mom was finished being elected.

Moron.

Methadras said...

Trumpit said...

Face it Jimbo, you are a slave. If you don't work, you don't eat. If you don't eat, you'll starve and die. Nobody will give a damn, either. You are Cinderella McBush's slave. Enjoy.


So Trumpit, are you going to be the first in line for Mr. Barely's government volunteer program? I mean, isn't it bad enough that you are already on your knees for him already? Talk about being a slave, what is embarrassing and tragic is that you put on the shackles willingly.

knox said...

We should be discouraging people from going to college. There are already far too many people in college that don't belong there, and most college educations are worthless anyway

Yes, college is a pretty big scam. It's far from the necessity people make it out to be.

Mike Ballburn said...

volunteerism = mandatory = slavery

Can I gets my reparations now?

Arbeit macht frei.

Merge Divide said...

"Can we just call Merge "spam" and delete him? I'm getting tired of all these drive by propagandists with the same stale talking points by Team Obama."

Too little, too late. Ann already deleted the above post yesterday, and then (for some reason) dropped it in this completely unrelated thread today. Maybe she read this post, which some of you guys so happen to star in.

Ann Althouse said...

Merge, you are delusional. I didn't drop anything anyway. What are you smoking?

Merge Divide said...

"What are you smoking"

That's a substantive response from a "college law professor". Just own up to it... most of your readers wanted my comments deleted anyway. You were only giving them what they wanted. You'll make an excellent fill-in for Rush someday.

Artist said...

It's interesting. My neighbors who have nine or so kids. We can never tell since there are up to 15 of them in the house in and out. They play in the streets, in their back yards and I observe them throwing their soda bottle, candy wrappers and anything else they may not need anymore that belongs in to a trash can, they throw it down were ever they stand at the time.

Now, when I was brought up I was taught better then that. Every kid will try to litter, it’s just basic laziness that must be corrected, but most of the time we had an adult around to correct us and punish us, if we did it again. So you start getting in to the habit of taking your trash and throwing it in the trash bin.

So anyway my neighbor’s kids litter, and litter and litter.

So here they are playing basketball in front of "my house" and throw all that stuff down. Potato chip bags, plastic soda bottles right on the street and on my lawn. I told them many time to pick it up, I told them nicely. They look at me as if I am an alien and ignore me.

I start telling them not so nicely and they pick stuff up with mean faces and giving me dirty looks.

They keep littering, eventually I just give up. I have broken skate boards, plastic and broken glass bottles and colorful candy wrappers in front of my house. I refuse to pick it up, I am 57 and have high blood pressure. I am sick and tired of other people responsibility burdened on me, when I really have no say in the rearing of their children anyway. The first time I would scold them I could get in to an altercation with one of the parent. Which actually happened before when I asked some other children to get their dog of my property. One of the kids said he would sick his dog on me and I had to call the police. Of course within minutes the mother showed up at my door, she was unhinged and full with attitude, going on and on doing the chicken neck! After that I decided to withdraw from my neighborhood and stay to myself.

Especially in a neighborhood were the majority of people are black and the minority is white like in mine. You have to stay low key these days.

One day one of the kids asked me over the fence "Are you going to volunteer to pick up trash in the neighborhood?" I said "No,Why?"

"But it’s good for the community" the kid said. I told him that I have lived 57 years in my live without littering and that I am not going to pick up after other people, that litter!"
I told him the people that should pick it up are the once that litter in the first place, to teach them it’s wrong!

I told him that it would be much better not to throw the trash on the ground in the first place, then we would not have to pick it up. He giggled and laughed and trotted off.

I am from Germany and in my days littering was a real no no.

Here in America I find lots of bad behavior that is not corrected early one. Parental supervision seems to lack and an attitude of laziness and entitlement seems to take over.

At least in the community where I live.