Exactly.

No I'm not missing it, I understand what he's saying. I'm just saying I'd only support something like that if the kids got something back out of it. I don't agree with forcing them to do it, unless it's part of the curriculm and they get some sort of credit for it.

I was just posting my opinion of what I thought a acceptable alternative should be.

I dont think they should forced to do it at all. They/the parents should have the CHOICE to do it and if you do do it you get credits for it. :2 cents:

Unfortunately most people here believe the government does own you. That is why they just eagerly elected a socialist demagogue. That is why there will be mandatory national service and wealth redistribution. People no longer believe in individual rights. To these modern day national socialists the supposed good of the overall society outweighs individual freedom. We have Harvard and Yale educated elites who will tell us what is in the best interests of society and then we will all pitch in to make it happen. We are entering a brave new world. :disgust

yay! just like the USSR. Gooooo Obama!

once we can get compulsory community service, we can then move on to teaching kids how to assemble and disassemble assault rifles and teach them songs about killing capitalist pigs.

I read this was in Rahm Emanuel's book. Is Rahm Emanuel, the Shadow President?!!

The Plan: Big Ideas for America.
http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid...ntentid=254076

ITS NOT MANDATORY

The entire program is VOLUNTARY.

Read it!



It is OK to hate, but hate responsibly.

Our tax system is also called a "voluntary" tax system.....

Where does it say any of that is mandatory? The guy is looking to expand community service in this country. He gives some incentives to do so.

I personally believe every high school and college in this country should require a form of it to graduate. My university required it and it was a good experience. It's time everyone started pitching in a bit and making this place better.

They have now changed the language on the site. What it said originally was "required."

Now it has been changed to:

I guess they are responding to the criticism which is nice. Obviously if the plan is only voluntary then it just represents another wasteful big government boondoggle as opposed to a fundamental violation of individual rights. I guess that is progress.

Just because someone thinks its a good idea does not mean another does. That is why we live in a REPUBLIC so the majority can not hold down the minority. If you think its a good idea do it and try to get others to do it. Do not FORCE people to do it.

Ah, they changed it. This is good. It's a work in progress and they're listening to citizen feedback, which is part of the purpose of that site.

Let them know what you think about proposals: http://change.gov/page/content/americanmoment

You know I've looked over that page that he linked to and I can't find the word "required" or "mandatory" anywhere on it. Maybe I'm missing the part he quoted in the 2 paragraphs of text.

What ever happened to " Pro Choice " ? :Oh crap

They have changed the text and taken out the word "require" now.

:1orglaugh

google cache is a great thing

http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache...lnk&cd=1&gl=us

I am sure that if a city or state wanted to offer those incentives no one would argue about it. Why does this have to be a federal thing?

I don't want my taxes supporting your volunteer fire department. :2 cents:

I had to do it in highschool, mandatory 40 hours of community service, seemed fair and was easy to do over 4 years. There was some stuff in the school you could do and all that and you could babysit and cut grass and stuff it just couldn't be replacing a paid person.

I think all high school kids should spend some time in the military. At the very least just to get them outside already.

How is that forcing people to do it?

Since the beginning of this thread Obama decided to change the wording. Google cache shows that when this page was first put up they used the words "require".

heres where it gets fun. LOL

how comes its usually military people who think this crap?

we know you guys love semper fiiing each other in the butt, please dont start trying to force children to serve in your wet dream military industrial complex

im on board its not required:thumbsup give him a chance like u did bush its like a war zone the employees like bomb victims their jobs are dead this country bush left a mess :2 cents:

YAY there's another step towards communism.

Whats next required "democracy" classes for all?

The biggest thing this country needs is to force the people who want to live off the system into JOBS. You don't work you don't eat!

"for the greater good" is the heart and soul of communist russia. America has always been about our own best interests.

http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/gol...lessness-wwii/

http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv...49D9GL20081015

I don't think that would fly while we're in 2 wars. :2 cents:

its not required u can do it people are fukin lazy want shit on a platter 100hrs per year damn i do like 500 at my local food bank hope my kids can get something free lol

Just let me know, does it hurt?

Do I get Free Health Care if I do it?

My kids have all had to do community service as part of school. If you don't do it, you don't graduate. They have cooked/served at soup kitchens, gone into nursing homes and took the elderly in wheelchairs for a walk or read to them. My eldest daughter who is good with hair actually ended up doing a lot of the older ladies hair in rollers and the ladies felt like a million bucks.

Sometimes you have to force kids to give back to the community, but most of the time, once they do, they love the experience and many continue with it all their lives. My eldest daughter is always devoting her time to one thing or another for the greater good

I'm going to hold off commenting on the specific plan until more details are available. It's just one paragraph now and the speculation going on here is rampant.

I will say this though, alot of democratic countries have compulsory military service for young people. (Austria, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Finland, Israel, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland etc)
This is really no different than that. Requiring young people to do something for the benefit of society as a whole is hardly totalitarian or authoritarian, and is precisely what the sniffling, whining, narcissistic punks whining about their freedom in this thread need.

Freedom comes with a price, if you're not willing to pay that price, then you don't deserve to be free.

i went to catholic school and had to put in at least 60 hours per semester towards community service. What is wrong with community service?

Nothing, as long as it is voluntary.

Ok, great, when does the price stop?

We pay taxes, probably more soon. We do mandatory community or military service. Then what do we do next? And then after that? And then after that?

And who makes that decision?

Never.

Money can't keep being borrowed.

If you live to retirement age you can crochet blankets to be sold somewhere.

Process your remains, ala Soylent Green.

Not you or I.


I still don't get the contention in this thread.

If anyone here believes this country would let legislation pass to force their children to do community service you have your head up your ass.

People are raised way to lazy and entitled.

We don't pay nearly the taxes that our grandparents or even our parents prior to 1980 paid.
People in every industrialized nation pay taxes, most of them at a far higher rate than we do.

YOU won't be doing anything, this program as I understand it is for young people. I'm sure, as with everything else, there will be lots of exceptions granted for people with hardships that have to work to help their families or as you mentioned earlier people in medical school with a very burdensome curriculum.

As for your second point, why does everyone always think a new program or policy is just the "beginning of something"? Why can't this program just be that, a program, not a first step towards whatever Orwellian thing you fear must be behind this?
Why can't we have a national health care plan without the doomsday sayers complaining about socialism and communism and now the government is going to take over everything?
The list goes on and on.

As for who makes that decision, you do and I do, indirectly, when we vote. The person who directly makes the decision is the person the majority of us voted for.

Whats wrong with that?

I understand what you mean, but if you don't look after yourself first the government isn't gonna help you your a citizen... They only help the non citizens and crack heads ....

So if looking out for yourself and own family is a crime so be it... Survival of the fittest!

Every time govt gets involved in a majority of social programs all it does is lead to waste, scandals, abuse, and shitty service.

Someone mentioned in this thread community service could do good things but should be limited to certain tasks and approved organizations. I say if you want to do 100 hours everyone should go do habitat for humanity for a weekend, red cross, or someshit that benefits american citizens directly.

Sounds good to me