Wednesday, September 7, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Looking
Outward
Dan Glode
Columnist
We’re in this
together
Service to others is the
payment you make for your
space here on earth.
— Muhammad Ali
Some friends were vis-
iting us in Sisters recently
and we took them up to
McKenzie Pass and walked
up the observatory there.
We have been there sev-
eral times, and I was again
impressed with how that
observatory was built during
the Great Depression.
Teenagers, young adults
and others worked for a
small wage and built a
thing of beauty. Our coun-
try has several such exam-
ples of that era. Go to any
National Park or Monument
in existence during that
period and you will see the
legacy of the Works Progress
Administration (WPA) and
the Civilian Conservation
Corps (CCC). Talk to any
of the parents of people my
age and their stories are, or
were, full of anecdotes about
working in the forest or on
trails or bridges and working
and living in camps together.
They didn’t make a lot
of money, but they did send
most of it home to help out. I
have never met anyone who
participated who did not
think it was a life-changing
experience. It wasn’t man-
datory, but close, as times
were hard and it was a way
to make a living.
When my boys were
growing up I told them how
lucky they were by the acci-
dent of where they were
born. They were born in a
place where they have many,
many benefits not bestowed
on the overwhelmingly vast
number of people on this
planet.
They were born in a
Western democracy and have
been afforded the privileges
that come with the accident
of their birth. They have an
education, they can read,
they will not die of common
contagious diseases, they
had a roof over their heads
with plenty to eat, they can
speak their minds without
fear of retribution, they have
employment opportunities,
water to drink, decent medi-
cal care, they have a life
expectancy double most
people and there is no one
forcing them at gunpoint to
do one thing or another.
I know I am going to
anger some of my libertarian
friends but I think mandatory
national service is something
that should be considered. I
don’t know all the details
for such service but in my
mind a year (or two) after
high school should be a year
(or two) of some kind of
expected national service.
It could be military service
or some kind of domestic
program which benefits the
larger society.
If you don’t want to wear
a uniform you could help
those in need in the hol-
lows of West Virginia, build
trails in our national parks,
deliver meals on wheels,
read to the bedridden, teach
poor kids to read, tutor,
construct, etc. It would be
expected of all that could
perform some duty and, yes,
exceptions could be made if
necessary.
I know the arguments
against mandatory service:
no one likes mandatory any-
thing as we live in a free
society where we have the
right to choose, this is tanta-
mount to slavery and so on.
Slavery? There are places
on this planet where you can
experience real slavery and
exploitation and this is not
one of them. Not anymore.
Mercifully you were not
born in one of those places.
In the 2012 national
election only 54 percent of
registered voters actually
voted. That angered me.
Those that preceded us left
their bodies on the beaches
of Normandy, the fields of
Gettysburg, Bunker Hill,
steets of Birmingham and
many places near and far
to secure our freedoms, our
rights. We all have benefited
from others who have done
the real heavy lifting, and
in spite of that almost half
of those who can vote actu-
ally do so. Talk about taking
things for granted! We are
too self-indulged and self-
absorbed. We need everyone
13
to put some skin in the game.
I think we need a shared
commonality of purpose. We
owe something to all those
around us. I would hope this
would be a shared value and
one we want to pass on to
our kids.
Did you ever talk to
someone who had worked
in Vista or the Peace Corps?
They all thought of it as a
life-changing experience.
People have to appreci-
ate we are part of a much
larger society and we have to
shoulder the responsibility
for all of our welfare.
We are in this together.
It would certainly help our
country and most of all it
would help those who par-
ticipate feel good about
themselves and the country
they share.