Compulsory Altruism if Obama is elected

The most worrisome of Barack Obama's proposals is his goal of bringing most charities under the federal umbrella in part by inducing all middle and high school children to do 50 hours of community service every year.

The details are on his campaign website and in his speeches calling Americans to service.

By requiring almost all public middle schoolers, starting at the age of 10 or 11, to join his new cadres of community service workers and become part of his "civilian national security force," Barack Obama shows himself to be out of touch with American traditions of individual volunteerism.

There is nothing wrong with a family allowing a child to volunteer at a young age: in the summer when I was 11, I spent several nights a week working for free at a concession stand in a little league baseball park. My parents were comfortable with this community service because at all times I was under the supervision of my mother's best friend. Parents then and parents today would like to choose whether their 11-year old child takes on even a part time job, and they would like to choose the job and judge for themselves whether the working conditions are suitable.

With his myriad proposals for new "Corps" and his proposal for universal service for all school children, Obama is trying to bring the charitable activities of 50 to 100 million people -- about half of them children -- under state control. That our government is even capable of running a service program on a scale never before attempted is a matter of faith, not evidence.

Posted at 09:58 AM | Email | Permalink |