ONE ANSWER: NATIONAL SERVICE

Young people look for causes. I remember all too well. I was 20 years old, a college senior, when I became involved with The Peace Movement (Anti-War Movement) against the Vietnam War and the surprise bombing attacks on Cambodia. I was one of 100,000 protesters on Boston Common one sunny day. Yes, 100,000 people stood and sat in silence during that protest. Nothing looted. Nothing burned. Nothing destroyed. We were a generation inspired by Gandhi and MLK. 

I was standing up in an Jeep convertible during the Boston College tuition strike as well. We drove through and around the campus, which was boycotted in protest against a sudden escalation of tuition and fees. Back then, about 50% of students at B.C. were, like me, working-class kids who commuted from home. Now there are nearly none. B.C., like other universities, preaches diversity while abandoning those who wish to climb out of poverty. 

My liberation from Catholicism occurred right after I graduated from Boston College in 1970. I came out to everyone I knew. I was immediately rejected by most of them, including my parents. So, I joined the Gay Liberation Movement by volunteering on a gay newspaper, participating in gay events and eventually working in gay health organizations. The first National Gay-Lesbian Rights March on Washington in 1979 was the height of The Gay Liberation Movement before the devastation of HIV/AIDS. 

Social media has atomized our more affluent young population. And drug gangs have provided lethal organization to our poor urban youth. The obsession with identity is a symptom of both phenomena. Affluent young people are prone to cyberbullying for being different or for holding non-conformist ideologies, as force-fed by Leftist teachers. Urban Black children are under threat of death from gun violence related to gang identities, fueled by exploitation by older drug dealers. 

*****

So, what can be done? I believe a system of compulsory and compensated national service, not necessarily military service, would help to heal the raw violence of current urban rioting and mob destruction of things having to do with American heritage, good and bad. Countries like Russia, Germany, Switzerland, Israel, Brazil and Denmark have compulsory military, or other, national service. 

A society which demands some form of service from young people is conveying the message that whatever that society has to offer does not come without some sacrifice of selfish personal activity for the greater social good. It is unfortunate that "service" is still confused with militarism in this regard. Young people and many old people have so much more to offer society. These talents could be incorporated into national service for the greater good. Small individual commitment which would bring a positive social and economic impact. 

Allowing our society to be ruled by social media, news media, entertainment and politics is surrender to divisiveness, not "diversity" in the positive sense of that word. Making money, in the context of wealth and celebrity as the unifying principle of our society, is equally destructive. National service could be our way back to valuing virtuous contributions to society. 

Our infrastructure has fallen behind those of less affluent nations in part because of our obsession with consumerism over social cohesion. National service could make a start at getting our infrastructure into better shape. Our pandemic-decimated economy could be revitalized by combining the massive labor pool of a national service agency with infrastructure industries. The benefits of free training in skills along with guaranteed payment might well be welcomed by unemployed young people. 

Why hand out relief checks to people whose skills may remain redundant after the pandemic has resolved? After all, national service helped bring America out of The Great Depression of the 20th century. Rather than using another World War to recover from the blow dealt by COVID-19, our government might well engage the youth of our country through a system of compulsory national service which focuses on rebuilding our nation rather than destroying other nations in the name of "freedom".