-=> Richard Webb wrote to Dave Drum <=-   
      
    DD> I could go along with compulsory national service for all who wish   
    DD> to enjoy the benefits of citizenship. But, IMO, it need not be   
    DD> military service. But, the gummint should get to decide where the   
    DD> newly does the service. If it's a a mud-foot grunt humping a rifle   
    DD> and pack through some desert or jungle or if it's counting penguins   
    DD> in Antarctica it should count the same.   Bv)=   
      
    RW> YEp, that's kind of the way i see this thing working.  YOu   
    RW> might end up toting a rifle, or you might be helping build a road or   
    RW> dig a well, or, as you say, counting penguins, whatever's needed.  OF   
    RW> course some of this would be commensuare with your abilities and   
    RW> aptitidues which would be gauged and tested when you showed up.  Imho   
    RW> it just makes sense, helpsyoung people prepare for life as citizens   
    RW> over adn above hs, and gives us the bodies we need, whether it be to   
    RW> fight a war, or provide international aid or bodies for public projects   
    RW> that do us good that need bodies to happen.   
      
   The main benefit is that it gives us an electorate who actually have something   
   invested in this grand experiment we call "America". People tend to want to   
   protect their investments rather than say "Ho Hum" and let it pass them by   
   without lifting a finger to fix things.   
      
   It would require a major sea change in the thinking and attitudes of the   
   "leaders" and their sycophants, the pundits, the tree-huggers, and the labour   
   movement(s). Which I don't see happening any time soon. But, dreams are free -   
   and sometimes enjoyable.    
      
   ... Beware when the gods let loose a thinker on this planet. -- Emerson   
   --- MultiMail/Win32 v0.49   
    * Origin: Outpost BBS / Johnson City, TN / outpost.slyip.net (1:18/200)