Powered By Blogger

Publius Speaks

Publius Speaks
Become A Follower

10/27/2017

Five Former Presidents and Citizen Service

Watching C-Span2 on October 22nd I saw five former Presidents of these United States (Jimmy Carter (#40 - 1985-1989) George H.W. Bush (#41 - 1989-93), Bill Clinton (# 42 - 1993-2001), George W. Bush (#43 - 2001-2009), Barack Obama (#44 - 2009-2017). joined together in common cause to raise funds, and to praise the volunteer efforts, brought forth by the natural disasters of hurricanes.  It was a pleasure to see, not only because of their unity in endorsing the money-raising concert, but because relative calm and peacefulness plus positive interaction despite political party were represented by this group. The effort itself – known as One America Appeal – has raised $31 million since September 7th. 
However, for what I am about to write, there was an equal emphasis from all of them on the importance of Americans working together to solve problems, deal with disasters, fix broken lives, and give of themselves in service to others, no matter what our differences as human beings.  This concept was perhaps nobly represented by the Points of Light Foundation, founded and signed into law by President George H.W. Bush.  It was, at the time of signing, taken rather lightly by the press and others, but has gained its own place among the volunteer programs associated with the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), which currently sponsors and oversees AMERICORPS, the Senior Volunteer Programs – Foster Grandparents, Senior Companions and Retired Senior Volunteer Program -- plus the Volunteer Generation Fund.  So, let us concentrate on what is somewhat unique about our Nation – it’s penchant for volunteer community service and relief efforts.
Of course, we cannot claim sole possession of a spirit of community service and cooperation in relief efforts.  The nation from which we separated – Great Britain – can claim credit for leading the way in certain volunteer efforts, as can other nations from which we have evolved. 
The period of the late 18th and early 19th centuries was a time of dynamic economic change.  The factory system, the discovery and use of steam power, improved inland transportation (canals and turnpikes), the ready supply of coal and iron, a remarkable series of inventions, and men with capital who were eager to invest—all these elements came together to produce the epochal change known as the Industrial Revolution.
The social unrest following these developments provided a fertile field for Methodism, which had been advanced by Anglican clergyman John Wesley in the mid-18th century., and from its beginnings, Methodism put great emphasis on social service and education.  Methodism was especially popular in the new industrial areas, in some of which the Church of England provided no services. It has been theorized that by pacifying social unrest Methodism contributed to the prevention of political and social revolution in Britain.”  (encyclopedia.com)
It was during this period that many other volunteer relief and reform efforts flourished.  To name a few: The Chartist Movement, Anti-Slavery Movement, Women’s Suffrage, Reform of child Labor laws, Trades Union growth, and the growth of public health institutions like hospitals and nursing schools. And, out of these reform movements came volunteer service groups like: 
1.      The Young Men's Christian Association – “founded in London, England, on June 6, 1844, by George Williams and a group of drapers in response to unhealthy social conditions arising in the big cities at the end of the Industrial Revolution (roughly 1750 to 1850). Growth of the railroads and centralization of commerce and industry brought many rural young men who needed jobs into cities like London. They worked 10 to 12 hours a day, six days a week and often lived at the workplace.  The first YMCA was organized to substitute Bible study and prayer for life on the streets. By 1851 there were 24 Y’s in Great Britain, with a combined membership of 2,700. That same year the Y arrived in North America: It was established in Montreal on November 25, and in Boston on December 29.  The idea proved popular everywhere.” (http://www.mfldymca.org)

2.      The Red Cross “Clara Barton and a circle of her acquaintances founded the American Red Cross in Washington, D.C. on May 21, 1881. Barton first heard of the Swiss-inspired global Red Cross network while visiting Europe following the Civil War. Returning home, she campaigned for an American Red Cross and for ratification of the Geneva Convention protecting the war-injured, which the United States ratified in 1882.”  (http://embed.widencdn.net)
As a colony of Britain, America not only picked up many of the same volunteer movements and groups begun in England, but also inherited the community values inherited from earliest settlers in Jamestown and Massachusetts, where concern for neighbors often meant the difference between a healthy, vibrant community and a community torn apart.  The Quakers, the Huguenots, and the Dutch all contributed something to that concept from their own religious beliefs and colonizing experiences.  Perhaps surprisingly, the Islamic community claims some of that tradition as well: “Throughout the Ismaili tradition, the role of the volunteers was to serve the academic institutions, community organizations and religious institutions. This service (or what is called seva) was to be given freely, with devotion and without expectation of payment.”
 Alexis de Tocqueville, the famous Frenchman who keenly observed American life and then wrote Democracy in America, published in France in 1835 and 1840, is reported to have said:  "America is a nation of joiners," although that translation from the French has been under question.  “Tocqueville viewed the proliferation of ‘associations’ as a unique response that was not only critical to the success of the experiment of democratic government, but also served to provide for the well-being of all of its citizens in accordance with a sense of equality that was previously unknown (Tocqueville 1840).”  (Learningtogive.org)
"In the United States, as soon as several inhabitants have taken an opinion or an idea they wish to promote in society, they seek each other out and unite together once they have made contact. From that moment, they are no longer isolated but have become a power seen from afar whose activities serve as an example and whose words are heeded" (Tocqueville 1840, 599).
It may be fairly said that once the colonists fought for and won their independence, the associative spirit of America began thriving on its own as Tocqueville acknowledged, and democracy was forever deepened by the nature of that spirit and norm of giving back to the community, the colony or state, the nation, something of oneself – time, talent, and/or treasure – so that all might have a better, richer life.
It is a concept that is now paid lip service by certain so-called leaders and office-holders, who have written and spoken about “de-construction” of government and institutions and even programs that grew out of this fundamental community-building nature.  There is abroad today, the very antithesis of the philosophy that democracy is based upon religious and humanitarian concepts of mutual responsibility for one another.  It is unforgiveable that the holders of such beliefs are, in fact, denying their religious heritage, their democratic heritage, their philosophical heritage from the Enlightenment and their own form of government that has its basis in looking after the welfare of all its People. 
Instead of the concepts of “philanthropy” and “charity,” we are subjected to the antithetical concepts of competition and conflict in the pursuit of self-aggrandizement.  Instead of the principle of mutual responsibility, we are met with the antithetical concept of tax-breaks for the rich.  Instead of the concept of neighborliness and welcoming of others, we are put upon by walls of separation and conflict.  Unity out of diversity is challenged by a false white nationalistic fervor that believes in the inferiority of other groups. 
 Instead of a nation that has grown under the development of inclusion and broadening of the electorate, we are now faced with laws that divide and exclude people from Associations that increase their freedoms and their power, and with laws that restrict the free expression of voting for whom the diverse electorate determines is their choice for office.  Instead of organizational and institutional memberships based on equality, we are subjected to a government that seemingly will stop at nothing to subjugate others to an authoritarian concept of religion, law & order and military dominance and superiority.    
We are, if nothing else, facing a constitutional crisis, perhaps deeper and broader than ever faced before; deeper than that of the fight for independence from George III, deeper than the move from confederation of states to a centralized governance by three-co-equal branches of national governmental infrastructure.  It will eventually be even deeper than dissolution of the Union by means of the War Between the States over slavery, known as the “Civil War.”
We are surely facing, not de-construction, but destruction.  The Alt Right of the Republican Party is on a path that can lead to the de-stabilization of democratic principles, the destruction of democratic ideals and freedoms, and the eventual undermining of our constitution, our institutions and our concept of equal justice under principled law.  Unless the concepts of responsibility for building community, offering community service, and enfranchising and strengthening every member of our communities are re-invigorated, we shall come to ruin.
The seeds of de-construction have been or are being planted right now. Hillary was always right (in spite of her detractors):  there is, and has been, a vast right-wing conspiracy, and now, for the first time in history, the anarchists of the right have enough leverage and power to bring it to fruition.   Here are a few of those ‘seeds:’
ü  Use of language so that fact and fiction can be confused, and the minds of voters attuned to accepting fiction as fact – false or fake news and attacks upon the press serve to confuse and bring every foundational principle under scrutiny
ü  Attack on government as “the problem” so that the electorate gives up on one of its most prized possessions - a government that works to enhance people’s lives.
ü   Privatization then becomes a possibility for almost every governmental function; start with the military and sub-contract many functions to the private sector – remember Blackwater? Continue with prisons – no one cares what happens there; then pick on public schools and emphasize what charter schools can do that they can’t.  All that will make the privatization of Social Security much easier, and Big Banks can take over the billions in the Social Security Trust Fund – but make sure false news says that the Trust fund is going broke!
[Since I have written about these “seeds” before in a Blog entitled: “FOURTEEN REASONS to be ANTI-TRUMP” find more detail on each of the 14 Reasons by consulting this posting at 11/23/2016.]
What does all this mean?  It Means:  WE ARE HEADED IN THE WRONG DIRECTION!

We should be returning, not to a tyrannical, nationalistic, white supremacist state that protects corporations and the wealthy.  We should be re-invigorating the concept of national and community service, under which the service of men and women in the armed forces can be fully recognized along with the many volunteer efforts that are prevalent in towns and cities across this nation. 
We need to re-introduce the principle of mutual responsibility for each other – that the unequal distribution of wealth, the suppression of some people’s right to vote, that the unjust killing of one person, the denial of free choice to one woman, the sexual harassment of one person by another or the offenses against others by the state or by its representatives or beneficiaries – are offenses against me and everyone else.  The loss of one life in any way is a loss to each one of us and to all of us as a corporate entity – just ask the active military who feel deeply the loss of even one combatant.  And, what about that principle the Marine Corps espouses that no one gets left behind because every life is too important to the Corps to be left behind?
There is no better way to instill a sense of mutual responsibility and interdependence in our society than to promote national and community service as a universal obligation for all of us as an act of thankfulness for American citizenship.  There is no better way to rehabilitate an anti-social, irresponsible, uncaring and unengaged personality (a law-breaker) than to change the whole prison system from one based on punishment to one based on obligation and service to others as one's "sentence". 
 Can it be done?  Well, except for a few successful caring- for-animals programs for prisoners, it hasn’t really been tried and tested all that much.  We are content, it seems with some educational classes, some therapies, some work-related assignments, but full-blown programs of community service seem to be lacking.  (Although we did try forced labor for a long while (“chain gangs”), but that was deemed cruel and unusual punishment, which it was).
As a society, we seem reluctant to obligate people to something.  We expect them to volunteer.  But, we quickly find that only about 20-30% of the population do freely volunteer for some form of community service (it varies in terms of what is counted as ‘community service’).  An older volunteer program under the CNCS, called “Learn and Serve” was, along with Points of Light, an attempt to make volunteering more of an accepted part of what it means to be a citizen of this nation.  L&S did make an impact in that service learning is now more widely accepted in schools and colleges as a part of the curriculum.
All rights and freedoms carry with them certain responsibilities [except for 2nd Amendment rights, which apparently carry no responsibilities at all, not even safety (and certainly not universal background checks of potential gun owners), according to the pronouncements and actions of the NRA].  In spite of that, it is a widely accepted principle that responsibilities are part and parcel of rights and freedoms: you can’t yell “FIRE” in a crowded theater; you can’t print scurrilous attacks upon others without some consequences under libel laws; you can’t lie about the abilities or contents of a product or service; you can marry whomever you wish, but if you don’t disclose certain information about your background, (a prior marriage still in effect, or an inability to consent to the marriage contract), that marriage can be declared invalid (annulled). 
We are not likely to convince the current administration that community service should be a responsibility of anyone who has been born to or given the right to citizenship.  However, we can, as individuals and as groups, begin to sow the 'seeds' of this idea in every corner of our existence.  How about influencing a tax reform law that recognizes volunteer hours (not just miles driven) as in-kind charitable donations, worth a certain amount per hour and documentable?  Or, how about the By-laws of the organizations to which you belong: what are the current obligations or responsibilities of members? If even mentioned, do they include an obligation to serve one’s community?  And what about other politicians -- are there any you could influence to write laws about a citizen's (or corporation's) obligation to serve local and national communities?
For more detail on national and community service, please read my Blog post of 2/8/2016.