Smerconish Is Right. About This.

By Karen and Erica

On a recent Saturday show, Michael Smerconish expressed the view that Americans are not really as polarized as they think they are. He suggested that Americans feel polarized because they are isolated from each other. His basic theory–Americans are joiners, but have stopped joining. Institutions that used to bring us together–churches, unions, sporting events–no longer do so. Why? Because we have turned hard to social media,. When we are on social media, we are not coming together with other humans in the way we did when we were all in the same place. And it is on social media where we get our views about other people. Hearing about other people in that manner is very different from actually meeting a real human being, with all of her complexities. It leads to the someone bot like us being characterized as an other based on specific characteristics, a judgment that is difficult in the face of a real complex person. (He said it better than we can, so listen to the video!)

We could not agree more.  

We have been advocating for years in favor of national service for all young people. We call it America’s Future Corps. Not mandatory military service—though we think military service should be borne by more people than are currently engaged in it—but service to our country in many different forms. We believe we older people should play a crucial role in any such program, so we can share what we know. National service gives the country some much needed help, allows older people to share what they know and meet wonderful new citizens, and gives younger people training in jobs and civics. On top of all that, mixing it up as we serve our country gives all of us an authentic, deep understanding of who we all are.

Obviously we are not alone in considering the merits of national service. The President of Rutgers had this to say:

There are many problems in America, but fundamental to so many of them is our unwillingness to learn from one another, to see and respect one another, to become familiar with people from different racial and ethnic backgrounds and who hold different political views. It will take work to repair this problem, but building blocks exist. A good foundation would be a one-year mandatory national service program.

We are aware that, as in everything, in designing a national service program, the devil is in the details. This article thoughtfully addresses some of the many details that must be considered.  

The expansion of national service is not a new subject. Congressional leaders and major think-tanks have repeatedly proposed models of universal service. The importance and benefit of service is not disputed and is perhaps accepted now more than ever. In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, Senator Chris Coons (D-CT) introduced an expansion of national service programs to respond and recover from the current crisis. This bill, the bipartisan CORPS Act, points to national service as a path to address urgent community needs—public health, hunger, education, conservation, behavioral health. And, importantly, the bill highlights national service as an opportunity to create hundreds of thousands of meaningful employment opportunities.

And indeed there are always competing views. The basic dispute seems to be between those who think the benefits of national service cannot be accomplished without making it mandatory, and those who think making national service mandatory is not consistent with our national view of volunteerism. We take the first view, like this author:

Several studies show that national service increases civic engagement, helps develop critical life skills, and has “a positive impact on young adults’ health, safety, and well-being.” It also should be noted that the idea of compulsory national service is more popular than ever among the American people.

There is broad-based support among young Americans, the people who would be most affected by the implementation of a national service requirement. In fact, 75 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds support an 18-month national service commitment. There is also ample support for the idea among older cohorts.

We are a smart nation. We can surely figure this out, if we want to take this bold step–which during current times seems unlikely to be the case. The United States has always been a country of big ideas. If its citizens come together, we can do anything. If we really knew each other, and if we all accept that citizenship imposes duties as well as privileges, we can create a better world–and one that values people of all ages and different perspectives on life and the world.

Mr. Smerconish, carry on. You have the mic. Move us forward. We’re with you.