Barack Obama: Compulsory Service REQUIRED of Middle, High School, College Students
Obama’s Community Service:
Middle School, High School and College Students:
REQUIRED to “Serve”
50 Hours for Middle, High School Students
100 Hours for College Students
Retirees Will Be “Encouraged” to Serve
UPDATES to follow at end of story.
UPDATE #1 – 1635 EST
UPDATE #2 – 1659 EST
UPDATE #3 – working
The honeymoon might be over. The president-elect has indicated where his priorities lie.
With problems besetting the United States on any number of fronts, we think it is disturbing that one of the first items posted at Change.gov, the incoming president’s website, announces that students will be required to perform community service.
Not asked, not presented with a choice so parents can make a decision, but required.
DBKP had planned on reserving comment on the incoming Obama administration until it had actually taken power. We figured that regardless of differences, Barack Obama deserved the benefit of the doubt and a chance to propose policies before we criticized them.
The Obama president-elect’s website changed all that with the announcement–just three days after the 2008 election–that students will be “required” to “serve” and perform “community service”.
From Change.gov (emphasis ours):
The Obama Administration will call on Americans to serve in order to meet the nation’s challenges. President-Elect Obama will expand national service programs like AmeriCorps and Peace Corps and will create a new Classroom Corps to help teachers in under served schools, as well as a new Health Corps, Clean Energy Corps, and Veterans Corps.
Obama will call on citizens of all ages to serve America, by developing a plan to require 50 hours of community service in middle school and high school and 100 hours of community service in college every year.
Obama will encourage retiring Americans to serve by improving programs available for individuals over age 55, while at the same time promoting youth programs such as Youth Build and Head Start.
We are against any compulsory government programs.
In times of existential national emergency–such as all-out war–we would be in favor of a military draft and other policies necessary for the survival of the USA. But, nothing is different today than three days ago.
It’s telling that serving notice that compulsory government service–for middle and high school students, no less–less than three days after the election results were known indicates this is a high priority for the incoming Obama administration.
We had hoped that the various things said on the campaign trail were just that: things all politicians say on the campaign trail. It appears that in the case of Obama Youth, Mr. Obama was serious.
We will oppose this will all our meager means available.
We also wonder if all of the Internet sites which posted “Bushitler” memorabilia the last eight years will go along with a government-mandated program which incorporates young students against their will-and the will of their parents, possibly.
A honeymoon was much preferred.
Regardless of who was proposing this, we would oppose it.
It’s a dangerous precedent, if it becomes reality.
UPDATE #1 – 16:35 EST
According to Change.gov:
“When you choose to serve — whether it’s your nation, your community or simply your neighborhood — you are connected to that fundamental American ideal that we want life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness not just for ourselves, but for all Americans. That’s why it’s called the American dream.”
Which goes to the heart of the matter here: when you choose to serve, you are not required to serve. Where there is requirements by the government, there is no choice.
Again, that this announcement appears on Change.gov less than three days after the election results have been known is an important point.
“Choosing” to serve should be approved by parents–not required by the government. No amount of good intentions can sugar-coat words like “mandatory”, “compulsory” or “required”.
UPDATE #2 – 1659 EST
There is no “office of the president-elect”. Five other things that are “creepy: about change.gov at Five things that are creepy about the change.gov website:
1. There is a website. Called Change.gov. I could stop right there. That’s creepy because a transition team’s website called, oh, for example “44thPresident.gov†is not sufficiently impressive. Here’s what’s really creepy about it, though. Don’t think of the word “change†there as a noun, or a verb, but as a command. Think of it as a command with the suffix .gov behind it. That gives me the willies right there.
…4. There is no such thing as the Office of the President-Elect, yet change.gov says it’s the website of that non-existant office. On November 7th, 2008, the office that Barack Obama holds is US Senator. Barack Obama’s public office will be US Senator until January 20, 2009. So, the title of the website being “Office of the President-Elect†is just a little weird.
LGF calls it “the Return of the Draft”.
It was something that was threatened in 2004 if Bush were re-elected. It’s something that is promised in 2008 once Barack Obama is elected.
Gateway Pundit observes that “Change… Obama Announces Creation Of His Marxist YouthCorps“.
At one time in our history church groups would volunteer to assist their community.
Now, we have the Church of Obama.Maybe this helps explain the sudden surge in firearm sales.
Maybe.
What happens to those who refuse to get in line? Allahpundit hazards a guess.
From Obama website: Hey, let’s make community service compulsory for students:
Presumably, the penalty for being a 20-year-old who doesn’t want to spend two hours a week picking up trash would be not graduating. The penalty for dodging Emanuel’s program, only Rahm knows.
The Heritage Foundation is succinct on the matter of America Serves:
President-elect Barack Obama has quietly changed the meaning of the American Dream and introduced a proposal for American Serfdom. In America, what it means to serve one’s country is very clear. It is voluntary and for the purpose of defending the country during a time of war, or for the purpose of upholding the constitution by serving, for example, as a judge or on a jury.
Obama has reinterpreted the American Dream of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,†as a collectivist ideology. He believes it is a dream about the collective happiness. He connects the notion of “service†to the American Dream, as he interprets it:
When you choose to serve — whether it’s your nation, your community or simply your neighborhood — you are connected to that fundamental American ideal that we want life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness not just for ourselves, but for all Americans. That’s why it’s called the American dream.
Serfdom will be welcomed by some, if the government is willing to pay for the huts.
Riehl World View asks, “How About Some Math And Science, First?”
by Mondo Frazier
image: RidesAPaleHorse
How Orwellian…compulsory servitude…didn’t we fight a Civil War and amend the Constitution to outlaw uncompensated compulsory servitude?
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I’ll see if I can find some Obamastalin togs from somewhere.
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Ah, but uncompensated compulsory servitude, otherwise known as slavery, is okay with the self appointed intellectuals in society, as long as it is for the “greater good,” also defined by them. In this case though, slaves would have it better…at least they were seen as valuable, whereas a “volunteer” to the government is expendable. As a free man, I bow to no one. Not to any form of businessman, and certainly not to a government.
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HEY — Didn’t some German guy do something like this a long time ago ?
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In Germany, I believe they were called Sturmabteilung or Storm Troopers. Or, could this be Evan Thomas’ “creepy cult of personality” feeling he gets from Obama?
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Homeschooling would appear to be the only way out—until they’ve outlawed that in all 50 states. Since education falls under state governments (and this seems to be tied-in to schools) how can a President enact this?
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My children, who attended a private high school, both had community service hour requirements as part of the curriculum. We require students to study specific subjects, require them to engage in physical education, require them to go on mandatory field trips, and so on. None of this is slavery. Trying to instill in students a sense of civic responsibility is a good thing.
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My daughter goes to a highly prestigious, private Catholic university. Community service is MANDATORY as part of her studies as well. She and her fellow students have brought food to homeless people, walked for cancer, and other activities. Honestly, my daughter is very involved and would do it even if it wasn’t compulsory. Since when is community service a bad thing?
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In Ontario Canada high school students have to do 40 hours – they call it ‘mandatory volunteerism’. Really. Some teachers and other officials are obviously against it since they pretty much sign off on anything without proof -it’s a total joke. And totally wrong. I don’t know how they don’t see the irony of ‘mandatory volunteerism’
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Compulsory volunteerism? Where I come from that’s called an oxymoron, but the kids who are too busy “volunteering” to study wouldn’t know that.
Community service is community service, and school is school, and the two should be separate entities. My kids learned to volunteer the old fashioned way, by watching their parents.
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Archie, Fred Tyler, Mike, crippy, Txtransplant: Thanks for stopping, reading and commenting!
Bob V, PJ,
It’s might well be a wonderful thing when private high schools and universities make community service a requirement. Students can opt out and the private schools and universities can either reap the benefits–or suffer the consequences of their requirements.
That is as it should be.
Do not confuse the issue here: there is nothing wrong with community service-if it is the individual’s choice to do those wonderful things. IF it is not their decision, then it’s like community service for committing a crime: it’s not a choice, it’s an order.
I’m sure most people have stories of helping out those less fortunate. My oldest daughter got a substantial scholarship to college based on one thing: the amount of community services she’d performed over her high school years.
BUT, she chose to do those things. She did not do them to qualify for a possible scholarship; she did not do them because they were mandated.
To mandate them takes them out of the realm of freely-chosen good works and makes them akin to paying taxes or obeying regulations.
It is like wearing a seat belt: if the government wants to encourage, to cajole, to persuade, to educate, to lead…all of that is a fine thing. Every time the government mandates a personal choice, we all lose a bit of personal freedom. This does not bother some people. As a libertarian/conservative, it is highly-troubling to me.
I was prepared to give Obama the benefit of the doubt for the next couple months–he deserves a chance to implement his policies and reap the benefits or consequences of them. I also thought that promises made in the heat of the battle on the campaign trail are, many times, just words of convenience for politicians. I was gonna give him a pass until January on most of his late campaign promises as rhetoric necessary to get himself elected–which he was entitled to do.
That he would choose early on to announce a mandate for kids–taking another decision out of the hands of parents and giving it to the state–is disturbing to me. Many problems to confront and this is one of the first his team chooses to address?
I can only pray it’s an Obama “hope” for “change”–and not a command.
If it is a command, I would hope I’m not the only one that sees this as disturbing.
Thanks to all for reading and commenting.
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PJ……….
“Since when is community service a bad thing?”
Um……..when it’s MANDATORY………
Ever heard of freedom of choice?
Mike, you must be thinking of THIS guy?
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w222/RidesAPaleHorse/hitler_youth.jpg
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Don’t know what happened to my last post but my reply was amply reinforced by Mondo.
That said……….
THIS is what is wrong with involuntary servitude PJ…….
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w222/RidesAPaleHorse/hitler_youth.jpg
So far, we still have freedom of choice.
So far
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Obama can go fuck himself if he thinks i will serve his agenda. Or anyone else. Delusional ass.
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I could not find the word “required” on change.gov. Please be clear if you’re quoting or not. Taking your word for it I sent out your link to all my contacts and groups and called people in alarm. I realize that’s my own bad, but I won’t be using you as a reliable source in future.
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Here is the the actual quote from the change.gov website:
The word “require” isn’t in the quote.
It’s crap like this that has destroyed the conservative movement in America.
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Doesn’t anybody read anymore? I read on Change.gov the words attributed to Obama that he will set a certain goal, and encourage what follows…Bush said the same thing in his inaugural speech as I recall. Do you know anyone who went into Americorps? I don’t.
“call on citizens of all ages to serve America, by SETTING A GOAL that all middle school and high school students do 50 hours of community service a year and by developing a plan so that all college students who conduct 100 hours of community service receive a universal and fully refundable tax credit ensuring that the first $4,000 of their college education is completely free. Obama will ENCOURAGEretiring Americans to serve by improving programs available for individuals over age 55, while at the same time promoting youth programs such as Youth Build and Head Start.”
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You sure mis-read what was on change.gov “encourage” not mandate 100 hours get $4,000. You are delibritely misleading or illiterate.
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Ciel, Bruce Leier,
[After visiting the Change.gov site on Saturday afternoon, I see that the wording on the America Serves page has been changed. That changed my original comment here.]
Please be clear if you’re quoting or not.
The quote was clearly offset in quotes.
From Change.gov which is quoted above: Obama will call on citizens of all ages to serve America, by developing a plan to REQUIRE (emphasis mine) 50 hours of community service in middle school and high school and 100 hours of community service in college every year.
It makes no nevermind what you do; I doubt you’d ever use us as a reliable source. I wouldn’t want to be sourced by anyone who can’t find the simple word “required” on the site. [It appears you may have visited the site after the change. Both screenshots will be published now--before and after--and that's another story]. I have a screenshot of the original if it disappears. [It appears that the practice of screenshotting everything from an Obama website will be required when reporting. I had hoped that that practice would be discontinued after Obama was elected.]
And lo and behold! The above quoted wording DID change!
It went from “required” to now “will set a goal”.
Thank you both for alerting me to today’s change at Change.gov.
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To all until the screenshots are published:
We were not the only ones who quoted the original Change.gov wording.
From Heritage Foundation, America Serves
“Then he lists “a plan to require 50 hours of community service in middle school and high school and 100 hours of community service in college every year.â€
The original Change.gov quote was written about and quoted not only by us, but by Hot Air, Stop the ACLU, Gateway Pundit and a host of others. If the commenter here did not see the original Change.gov language before it was changed, then you are blameless.
If you saw the language before it was changed and posted your comments anyway, you are most likely campaign political bots.
Be honest or Begone!
Thanks to all others for posting.
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[...] DBKP published a story about the Obama website, Change.gov. [Barack Obama: Compulsory Service REQUIRED of Middle, High School, College Students] The Obama website announced that middle school, high school and college students would be required [...]
To all:
For before and after screenshots of Change.org’s “America Serves” article as well as a comment on the many comments that appeared at this site on this post within an hour:
Changes You Can Believe In: Change.Gov Changes America Serves Post
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I am a Libertarian, and would be unhappier about this election only if Mc Cain had won.
As for this national service, the draft is *slavery.* Pure and simple. I agree that it should not be compulsory.
I do not agree that a draft would be OK in the event of a national emergency such as a bona-fide reason to go to war. It is *slavery* no matter what.
If there were a bona-fide reason to go to war, such as if our shores were attacked by another country, then I think people would step forward. If they don’t, what that shows is there is insufficient “consumer demand” for entering a war.
Likewise, if there is enough demand for volunteerism, then people will volunteer. I doubt there will be for students; aren’t students busy enough? When I was in high school and college, which is a few decades ago now I felt that my studies were already taking up too much time. From what I hear today, high school students have so much homework they have to form study groups and divide it up. There are a lot of issues here, but the issue *at issue* here is *slavery!*
You’d think a black President would be more adverse to slavery.
As for me, I am a retiree.
H*%^ NO I WON’T GO!!!!!!!
MAYBE I WILL BE THE NATION’S FIRST OLD WOMAN DRAFT DODGER!!!!!!!
I’D BE PROUD!!!!!
Click my page and see my blog!!!
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In the first place this so-called “youth corps” is straight out of the 1922 Mussolini fascist strategy manual. It’s nothing but an indoctriation program and a gang of re-programed little fascist spies so this jerk can’t even come up with anything original to undermine and sabotage this great country in his effort to hand the USA over to the international bankers. Of course, like Bush he is just as owned by the elite as an LA crack whore is by her pimp so he can’t do anything anyway without their blessing.
In the second place in my opinion he is illegitimate as a senator and especially a president since he refused to provide his birth certificate and is probably an illegal alien that should be arrested and deported if the truth were known. And, if that imbecile thinks he can “order” people to work without compensation as if they had been convicted by a court of law and were being punished, he is out of his illegal alien little pea sized brain. The stupid bastard is simply either off of his meds or out of his skull. If everyone pays the idiot absolutely no mind maybe he will just go away. What a delusional jerk!
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NOTICE
Problem, reaction solution.
Problem:
Unable to enslave humanity because the smartest wealthiest people on the earth have lots of weapons.
Action:
Tactical assault without troops,by money lenders. Corruption of the legislative prompts. Creation of centralized education program, the first step in control is to create someplace to be controlled from. Issuance of immatrerial wealth based fiat currency. Removal of Constitutionally lawful Senators.
Reaction:
The united States is woe fully ignorant, and impoverished enough from the fiat currency that it now takes 2 PEOPLE to make a living wage. Thus you have the break down of the basis for known government, THE FAMILY as stress of poor economy forces families apart. The family is the first and potentially the last threat that any EVIL government really need worry about. (I fear what the human mind will look like after generations of being raised cradle to grave by the state.) A majority of Americans thus demand “security” and “stability” whilst the MINORITY AMERICANS request education and opportunity..
Solution:
Well you can see the solution right here. Its around us every day. We live in a control grid. A grid of ACCREDIDATION, you are first plugged in with of all things your name that you never created. In America before you know it you are bound to that name and of what it implies long before you are awakened to the element of servitude a name confers to any whom posses information against it.
Now we have the first foot paths into a field of greater public servitude that dawns its dark shadows. Once the infrastructure for control is implemented it will be nigh on impossible to dismantle in all its aspects, with out full blown revolution. Education is paramount the ball is faliing we simply need to direct its path.
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Remove citizen ship from treasonous mal aligned Americans. Treasonous Americans whom operate in secret and collusion with foreign interests against the republic and the Constitution of States.
Please sign, read and disseminate. Stop foreign powers from ruling America.
A simple majority vote of the STATES saves America pewpew.
http://www.petitiononline.com/tona2009/petition.html
http://www.rallycongress.com/tona2009/1357/
Body of text
“”If any citizen of the United States shall accept, claim, receive, or retain any title of nobility or honour, or accept and retain any present, pension, office, or emolument of any kind whatever, from any emperor, king, prince, foreign power, or secret society, such person shall cease to be a citizen of the United States, and shall be incapable of holding any office of trust or profit under them, or either of them.”
——————————————————
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Eh? What did that mean?
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Bruce Leier,
Exactly?!?
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I fear this will only be one of many things, Obama does. I do not know one of his supporters that researched him, and when I tried to tell them, I was called every name in the book.
What the MSM did not report, but was in another newspaper, he wants 18 yr old girls to signup for selective service….I see a draft coming.
To those who voted for him, I cannot say thank you…I believe i will get worse, and I just hope the USA can recover from his agendas.
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what governors was talking about is the original ?abandoned? 13th Amendment. It was the titles of Nobility Act. It was written to prevent foreign spies from getting influence in our governing body.
there is also a line of thought that BAR lawyers are loyal to the international bar association, thus loyal to the british crown, even if they dont realize it.
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I, too, read the original page that had the word required to serve, and found that it had been changed to will call on. The same thing happened during the primaries. I had read Michelle Obama’s speeches, then when I went to email them to friends they disappeared. There is however, one video in which she states something to the effect that her husband would require us to go out of our comfort zones and serve our Nation.
I have just read “The Law” by Frederic Bastiat. This treatise was written in 1850 when France was suffering under the Democratic form of Government. It is shockingly and eerily true of what is happening in America today. We are going to war without protecting our borders. We are stealing from those whom earn a living to give to those whom do not. We are allowing our God given rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness to be eroded by legislation and legislators that seek to make us do their bidding.
We have been allowing Government to plunder our wealth, abilities and self determination through laws that mandate taxation, education, identification and charity. They claim that man by himself is not capable of charity, educating their children, working to secure a better life for his family, determining his own retirement, and pursuing his destiny. That only those that make laws and raise police states are capable of determining for man what is best for him.
America was a republic and functioned very well as such until the past 75 years or so. Then someone legislated a way to give the masses money. Once the public decided it could vote itself a living, it ended a free state and the rule of law. It began a Democracy, mob rule, and has since seen to the death of the once Republic of America.
If God gives me a choice between right and wrong, I rebuke Government for taking that choice from me.
If I have taught my children and have myself done all I can to make sure my family and the needy in my community have been taken care of, I say I am more capable of helping on my own than with a thousand guns put to my head.
This new mandate will not make people want to help the needy, this mandate will cause people to resent helping the needy.
I say this, I and my children have many times devoted ourselves to helping out those less fortunate that we.
Obama’s reign will put an end to this. I will be a slave to no man. God made me free, and no legislation by man will suffer me to lose these freedoms.
You cannot legislate morality, ironically, it is immoral to do so.
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[...] on citizens of all ages to serve. They’ll set a goal that all middle school and high school students engage in 50 hours of community service a year, and develop a plan for all college students who engage in 100 hours of community service to [...]
Barack Obama may be a charismatic leader but somehow his economic policies are not that great in my own opinion. But still i am thankful that a Obama is the current president of the unitied states.
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Reguardless of what anyone says a person should not be forced to do community service work. It takes away the entire point of community service. Hitler and Stalin ring any bells? if this goes through where will it end?
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