How to destroy a nation without really trying? Easy, just build another bridge to nowhere

    The way now being proposed is simple and requires little thought—all you have to do is to take it from Medicare, veterans’ benefits and from some other social programs and then take, at least, one-third of the needed savings from student loans and student aid.

    Budget superiority requires us to reduce education spending at the same time a s America finds itself with its students down in the lists of global ratings numbers [39th on one list] and is diminishing in America’s competition with the students of other nations in the areas of learning, creativity, and in the ability to perform. At this rate, pretty soon the budgeteers may be in the position to develop a voucher system to outsource American technology by sending MIT or Stanford, etc., to India or China or, even, Monaco.

    For some years, many foreign students were selected to come here to learn, and a number of them stayed here with their American counterparts to develop our technological prowess—now they are being educationally outsourced back to their own or other nations since, it would show, that there’s where the action and cheap labor happens to be and where it continues to grow...

     Well, if you can outsource the technology and can outsource the jobs, the Budget people figure that you really don’t have to educate America’s children. It allows America to continue to be a consumer nation without the ability to afford to consume. We could require corporate 10% tithing to support their faith-based missionary profit philosophy.

    But with the Katrina Hurricane and with other manifestations of international terrorism or nature’s fury, we confronted and realized that our People were lacking knowledge and were ill-equipped to cope. We woke up to one ugly morning in shock facing the actual physical destruction, environmental waste and the vast and sometimes uncontrollable social problems which then existed and were further allowed to fester on site due to a failure to recognize, correct, and cure the obvious deficiencies.

    Nor, frankly were our Federal, State or local agencies in place and fully capable of the control necessary to cope effectively without the need for reliance upon volunteer professional and other volunteers from outside of the disaster areas [sort of reminds you of the “short-term” Guard and Reserve inventory fill-in sent to Iraq]. So, to cover-up on our non-planning, we brought in outside Guard units and Active Service Military personnel who were not specially trained or equipped to understand and fully deal with the local situations. While the presence of mere bodies does, in fact, help, they do not answer the problems encountered nor absolve the incompetence or the lack of prior planning and missing implementation resources.

    We should agree on one thing. That is, without question, our People were and are all amazing and compassionate in coming out to help their fellow Americans in need, whether it be at the Twin Towers or New Orleans, or wherever needed. No one can deny that without them the conditions would have been far worse.

     So, how do we avoid the consequences, as we now plan to cover the hole, as suggested, by training Active Military [contrary to Posse Comitatus] to respond to these civilian happenings on American soil? What we really should be doing is to reequip and train, rather than proposing to merely restart new reorientation programs for the Guard, the Reserves, and our citizens. The change would allow us to compete and quantify our capabilities for our own survival and possibly the survival of our neighbors. All of this can be achieved on a national scale if we only can cut out spending on bridges to nowhere.

How can you accomplish this sort of national participation? Some have suggested that we revisit the Draft and, in that way, fulfill the promise that was made to allow for the return of those 35% to 40% Reserve and Guard Units sent into war. Some have proposed the Draft as a way to develop troop diversity—so this means create a social issue to avoid facing the reality of a vital need. Or, if you prefer innovation, how about exchanging deportation and security costs and expenses for the costs of conscripting illegal immigrants, training them and then sending them overseas as troop replacements to Afghanistan, Iraq, or wherever our forces happen to be at the time and then give them a green card or some sort of a free pass after three years or so?

    A naked Draft provided an acceptable source of military personnel to win a “good war.” The Draft created an anti-war philosophy during Viet Nam, when people feared their own sons and daughters could be the subject of and jeopardized by a call-up or death—once again we find a repeat of the same thinking with respect to Iraq.

    The concept being relied on is that it is better we keep on buying Hessians than to make vulnerable o ur children whom we have trained to individually think only for and of themselves, as well as those in poverty whom we haven’t bothered to train at all, let alone acknowledge their existence. Or the Bad Guys will become the Good Guys if we do nothing.

     In the Depression of the 1930s, while seeking to improve the economy and to give an uplift to our society, the Nation created citizen programs such as the Civilian Conservation Corps [CCC], Tennessee Valley Authority [TVA], the Works Progress Authority [WPA], and other similar programs which gave the people a direction, a schooling and a true feeling of participation and contribution. The establishment of such programs resulted in a positive effect on the growth of our country and the unity of our people. Instead of a chicken in every pot, we all found ourselves in the same pot, and that equality made us strong.

    After World War II, the GI Bill was put in place and restored pride and accomplishment to the returning veteran, who took his/her place in a culture providing the learning, the knowledge, and the will to succeed while developing the basis and the growth for the American dream.

    We have also created other government programs such as the Peace Corps, the Americorps, the Jobs Corps, and other youth growth programs for providing our desire to succeed in the design of a civilian volunteerism. So, why have we sidetracked our abilities and directions by copping out on our present and future?

    At our 1993 JWV National Convention, I presented, and we adopted our existing policy calling for a Mandatory National Service Plan for all youth [boys and girls] to participate in a nationwide program of citizen involvement in the perpetuation of our way of life.

    A National Service Plan allows for a selection by the youths in determining where they are to fit into all types of the numerous and varied fields, such as military, community work, hospital and health care, law enforcement, in multi-faceted civilian positions having different characteristics and environments, etc. All of the choices will probably answer in their having prior training with hands-on service when the need presents itself

    The initial schooling, training and actual performance would be budgeted by the National Service Plan for stated periods of one to two years. With such training in place, students will have obtained adult pre-school direction and training in what they might consider for their life work or for their next educational upgrade. All of this would provide for a non-frightened nation prepared to meet all comers and all competitors.

    A natural disaster which we have seen creates a response based on fear would now find that there are available people with abilities to respond in place without the need to import from other areas. We would confront the disaster and reduce the dependency on others while controlling the rioting and the fear as a response, to assure providing food, housing and other requirements. What you would have, in fact would be a first response team on the ground and in the place where needed and at the same time it is needed—all with the reality of a national citizen accomplishment.

    There is nothing like experience to inculcate pride in the nation, in the society, and in the family resulting from instilling an incentive to grow out of learning rather than to dry up out of fear. It will create a better understanding of our democracy, of our unity, of diversity and more importantly for our acceptance of ourselves and our neighbors.

    The National Service Plan is thus a logical extension of the call to “Leave No Child Behind,” providing a place in the fabric of a nation for a rejuvenation of the American spirit and culture. National Service can only be a part of the process which ultimately must impose upon us a call for us to not “Leave Our Nation Behind.”

    The Plan would create a commitment acceptable to youth, to the Nation, and its vitality, but, more importantly, it would be a commitment by youth to their parents, their communities and the durability of our society. There would be a result rather than merely a reaction. Then can there be a substitution of the outsourcing profit theory with an insourcing approach having agreed internal national dependencies and experiences.

    There are a number of nations which employ a National Service Plan dealing with separate varied issues. Even the terrorist follows a successful youth participation policy program in training them as suicide bombers. The Plan does work well in single or multiple parts, but, in order to accomplish a real impact in the time of need and to be sound during time of growth, it must be more inclusive and encompassing.

    Many of the expenditures contemplated in the new Budget consist of merely throwing a lot of money to assuage and to cover up the political and practical failures in first responder responses. I used the words “political failures” when the fact is that the failure was of administration and preparedness and, above all, a lack of awareness of the real and obvious probability of the dangers—all of which no one would concede without acknowledging that their concerns were on issues or places dealing with other than the safety of our nation.

    The politicians and bureaucrats can come up with many innovative approaches which will be non-productive but very cosmetic in nature and which will go nowhere unless the citizens show a concern. That is, unless we act rather than being snowed by the rhetorical deceit of election promises.

    What, me act or vote? The real trouble is you really don’t believe it, and, in many cases, you probably will never believe it. Believe me, there is no good fairy to come out of the woodwork to protect you.

    So, let’s just enough of us get together and reeducate our country to return to the top—to return to our Pride—to return to accomplishment and growth. And, if you will pardon the expression—to return as Number One!!!

    Remember, however, that when you really mull it over—it only takes just a very little effort to bomb out and remain at the bottom. All you have to do is to do nothing—unfortunately that is one area where many of our citizens stand out as real experts.