I am sitting here in the hotel watching Piers Morgan interview Michael Moore. While, contrary to popular belief, I am not really a Michael Moore fan-I do think he has some good points to make about the United States’ abysmal inability to provide the requisite necessities for its citizens: a level playing field, universal access to health care, and a reasonable baseline lifestyle. Morgan is rightfully quizzing him on his stance as an advocate for the middle class when he himself is quite wealthy as a result of his movies.
There is a studio audience, unusual for Piers Morgan, and one of the things that comes up repeatedly and when you read the 99% stories on the tumblr web site is the massive amounts of student debt that plenty of people have accumulated. It always surprises me, that not one of these pundits asking questions-ever asks the obvious question. ” Coming out of school with a lot of debt and can’t find a job? Why didn’t you try to join the military? Either as a way to pay for your college or to pay off your student loans after graduation”. To me it seems like a no-brainer. Or at least something to consider, although I fully acknowledge that it is a harder decision to make in the world of non stop warfare lasting over years and years and years-with a distinct possibility of getting killed in above said war. However at the same time, entering the military always had that obligation. In my time, I was paying back my college education by getting shot off aircraft carriers with the distinct possibility of freezing to death in the North Atlantic, if something went wrong. (The only debt I was accumulating was being wracked up by my ex-wife, but that is quite another story).
I stayed in the Navy-mainly because no corporation in America could offer me the excitement of flying and raising hell with the boys in far away lands, a camaraderie that probably does not exist today. But I had no student debt. I became an Ensign with a clean slate. Had I have not gotten married and instead stayed single-being diligent about saving my money, not only would I have gotten laid a lot more in my 20’s, but I could have left at 4 or 40 years with a nice sum saved.
Now I also recognize that not everyone could go in the military, and if I had my way the military would have a lot more men and a lot less women. However, regardless of that, it seems to me that the question is not being asked and answered: “Why doesn’t the United States have a program of national service, to allow its youth to earn the college education that so many yearn after?” Now the answer comes immediately to mind, ‘Oh no-that’s a draft and we don’t want that!” ( An answer that comes to often from the mouths of currently serving and recently retired naval officers). I take great issue with that sentiment-particularly from those who crow over and over again how much “better leaders” today’s generation is than those of us who served in the “bad old days” and grew up in the wild and wooly 60’s and 70’s.
The simple truth is, I believe, there is a way to have a program of national service-both military and nonmilitary. ( The time to serve would be in favor of military service however). There are areas that could use young volunteers-who could be trained to serve in many areas. In exchange, a requirement for entry into a university or college would be a “satisfaction of national service” commitment letter. Sure it would mean that the average age for college students would be higher-but that might not be such a bad thing. Military service, conservation corps, public safety -there are a fair amount of ways to tackle this problem. And if nothing else-it would also drive home the issue that currently .05% of all Americans live a life drastically different than 99.5% of their counterparts. That-along with student debt-is a huge problem and allows too many politicians to throw away the lives of the .05% with too much ease. ( Take a bow Mr. Rumsfeld…..). Just my .02.