| Chapter
Five
The Citizens of the United
States of America have a right to applaud
themselves for giving to mankind examples of an enlarged
and liberal policy, a policy worthy of imitation. All
possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of
citizenship.
As mankind becomes more liberal, they will
be more able to allow that those who conduct themselves
as worthy members of the community are equally entitled
to the protection of civil government. I hope ever to
see America among the foremost nations
in examples of justice and liberality.
George Washington
Many of the problems facing
the United States and the world require more manpower
and resources than have been allocated for solving them.
These include education, child care, health care and
the coming increase in the retired population and the
elderly. Real solutions will require everyone to help.
This is universal service.
Throughout history, one can find examples
of universal service. A common set of social strategies
aids survival for humans, as well as primates and other
life forms. For example, birds flock together to increase
safety from predators. A wolf pack hunts together to
enhance the likelihood of a kill for all. Ants and other
organisms participate in relationships and organization.
Humans built cooperation into family and
tribal structures and finally into larger units for
defense and survival. There is evidence back to 100,000
B.C. and earlier for social organization among the earliest
peoples. For men and women to protect their children,
a basic level of shared responsibility called for the
men to hunt and the women to nurture the offspring.
Scientists discovered that the number
of surviving grandparents increased fivefold during
the Stone Age, about 30,000-40,000 years ago. This allowed
increased experience and knowledge to be passed to children
and a tremendous leap in human productivity was the
result. Succeeding generations could build on the accumulated
wisdom of their elders.
Because of modern medical knowledge and
technology, people today often live to be 70, 80 and
even older with health care, good diet and exercise.
They can now contribute their lifetime of knowledge,
experience and wisdom using modern technology.
History shows us numerous examples of
a universal service approach: pyramids in Egypt and
Mexico , enormous stone structures, such as Stonehenge
, agricultural and irrigation systems in ancient Babylon
, Egypt , India and China . These large enterprises
required written records to track, schedule and organize
the activity.
Universal service often included everyone,
even children working in fields. Early America was much
like those ancient civilizations. All contributed, even
children. We can trace what we call summer vacation
to when kids got out of school to help their parents
in the fields.
In the 21st Century, humanity is transitioning
from an ancient world of tens of thousands of tribes
and cultures to a single modern global village. Modern
communications and technology are causing this transition.
Nobody chose to create this new world order. It is occurring
around us in the same way that we are changing the physical
environment in order to survive and progress.
So, we must find new ways to organize
ourselves. The priority is to create enough sustainable
wealth and productivity so the whole world can live
comfortably.
Universal service for youth, adults and
retired people can muster the necessary energy, time
and labor effectively. The result would be better health
and education, more safety and freedom for all.
Benefits for youth would include self-discipline
in learning how to create a plan, carry it out, and
then enjoy the accomplishment that comes with its successful
completion. For example, children in Japan are in charge
of cleaning up their schools every day.
Suppose we color-code recyclable containers
for materials that are valuable, such as glass, aluminum
and plastic. Groups of neighborhood children could come
around after school to neighborhoods, pick up bags of
those containers and take them to block or neighborhood
dumpsters similarly color-coded. The high cost of sorting
items then would be accomplished at little cost before
reaching the waste management depository. This is similar
to what was done in the USA in WWII.
For all youth 12 to 20, there should be
two years of universal service. Think of a summer camp
organization with supervised small groups. There would
be an initial six months of basic training, including
physical training as well as learning how to learn.
One would have the option of completing the full two
years after basic training or breaking it up into smaller
blocks of times for the obligation.
After basic training, kids could choose
to travel the world, doing everything from digging ditches
to helping educate other children. Universal service
youth could help nurse the elderly and use their strength
and energy for numerous public projects. And for better
results, we would continuously measure, change and adapt
this program.
The compensation to kids for their two-year
service would be a college education. Beginning with
a liberal arts curriculum, youth could tap into all
human knowledge and learn how to become lifetime learners.
For adults, universal service would mean
one to two weekends a month or two to four days spaced
throughout the month. Employers would have the option
to pay for this, just as they do for jury duty. This
pool – approximately 150 million adults in the U.S.
– could provide up to five billion hours per month to
help other people.
This universal service force is large
enough so that no one would have to work alone. Teams,
using cell phones, could provide security within schools
and in concentric circles outside on block corners around
schools, parks and shopping areas to insure that our
children can travel safely and without fear whenever
they leave home. Additionally, some teams could assist
professional teachers in classrooms, creating a 10-to-1
ratio of students to instructors. Such an arrangement
would provide an intensive learning environment with
time for practice that could even make homework unnecessary.
The adult force could be backups and witnesses
for law enforcement and help staff many activities such
as understaffed community services. With computers,
it is easy to schedule and manage availability, even
down to provisions for sick days.
Retirees could fulfill their universal
service as Jurors or Seniors for Common Sense 2. In
return for complete social security and healthcare benefits,
they would serve 10-15 hours a week. At their convenience,
they would watch their chosen area of expertise on VCRs
and vote at the end of the week. That could give us
10,000 or more citizens who would watch each government
decision-making action. This could insure that legislators
at least have to read and consider each bill before
voting on it. For the biggest decisions, all adults
could choose to be involved.
As we replace the wasteful paper-pushing
part of our economy with computers and robots, we will
experience tremendous unemployment. Universal service
will encourage voluntary early retirement that is productive
and rewarding. These retirees – ages 50 to 55 – can
make positive contributions as Jurors and Seniors, educators
and in other positions.
The new basis for life and self-respect
will become education and participation as work as we
know it changes and is replaced by computers, automation,
robots and other inventions.
Any activity, even recreational fishing,
eventually will be valuable to the human race as long
as the information is gathered and stored. In the future,
perhaps on a distant planet when mankind is expanding
across the universe, that information may be valuable.
The quality of life for this kind of retirement
would be a good one – a $50,000 lifestyle. That would
be enough money to have what we consider middle-class
housing, health, recreation, transportation, and medical
care in exchange for four weekends a month or the equivalent
to participate in Common Sense 2 or other activities.
Increased productivity and savings realized from more
efficient handling of criminal justice, education, nursing
and health care will more than pay for the benefits.
Retirees also could create videos of their
life experiences and participate in seminars so they
can distill their wisdom and experiences for mankind.
We would catalog and archive these for future generations.
Universal service will supplement and
enhance the free market system to help provide labor
necessary for a complete range of open government and
social services.
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