Obama wants to institute forced servitude?
Wednesday, July 9th, 2008Johna Goldberg in the Los Angeles Times makes some libertarian points about mandatory national service that I have believed for a long time.
Obama wants to institute mandatory national service. This bothers me as much as when I see celebrities on TV game shows “playing for their favorite charity”. You know they had no choice in the matter. Why cant they take their winnings and give to charity on their own damn time?!
Volunteerism is good. But why does every good thing need to be orchestrated by government?
Indeed, there’s ample evidence that countries with intrusive and expensive welfare states stifle their citizens’ spirit of charity and volunteerism precisely because people conclude that every problem should be solved by government. Merely paying your taxes substitutes for charity, and cleaning up roadside litter for two years absolves you from doing anything more.