Public service is crucially important. One theory for why we have rampant political apathy nowadays is because people do not feel socially invested. It is a well-known human quirk that the more effort we put into something, the more of an interest we have in seeing it succeed.

This is even true of relationships. For instance, psychologists will tell you if you want someone to fall in love with you, rather than giving them gifts, you should have them do things for you. This will make them feel more invested in your well-being.

The same principle applies to politics. It is claimed that the WW2 generation felt highly socially invested since they put their lives on the line for the nation, and I think this argument holds some water. People nowadays receive many benefits from the state, such as security, freedom, a social safety net, etc, but they take this for granted since they do not feel socially invested. It isn’t “their” system, since they didn’t have any part in building it up or holding it together, so why should they care what happens to it?

Obama’s plan to tie public service to college grants would go a long way to helping this problem, and will increase public service and make college more accessible at the same time. He is also looking to increase funding for AmeriCorps, increase the volunteer military force, and double the size of the Peace Corps. McCain claims to have similar plans, but is more ambiguous about them. Even more important than Obama’s support for new public service policies is his consistent championing of public service and political involvement through both word and deed, as opposed to borderline contempt for dreaded community organizing.

This even used to be a theme of former Republican candidates. Though, they mainly saw volunteerism as a way to reduce government social programs, and indeed it can be effective for that purpose. Nevertheless, Bush Sr’s surprisingly eloquent “thousand points of light” speech was in this same spirit that Obama is tapping into, just with less of an invitation to engage in the political arena. The decentralized power of thousands of individuals giving back to society can be truly awe-inspiring, and this seems to be recognized by a substantial number of people regardless of political persuasion. Unfortunately, since volunteers aren’t paid they are often looked down upon in our hypercapitalist society as unprofessional. Nevertheless, civil society has always played an vital role in democratic societies, and in the US moreso than anywhere.

I would go further than Obama and McCain. I would assert that mandatory public service is a perfectly legitimate extension of the Social Contract, and that we should implement such a program in exchange for free higher education. This would make it so everyone is on level footing and nobody will feel like they are falling behind by giving back to society. Mandatory military service is already common in places such as Norway and Israel, however, I am proposing something more broad than just military service. The types of service could range from programs like AmeriCorps to the Military and would last for a year or two. As a bonus, this would also make the draft an even more remote possibility.

There is a group called Service Nation which is currently promoting this more radical idea. Both John McCain and Barack Obama spoke at their recent Service Nation Summit last Friday. The group is co-chaired by Caroline Kennedy and has many Democrats like Tom Daschle affiliated. Yet, it also has right-wingers like Michael Bloomberg, Rick Warren, and Neil Bush.

Here’s McCain’s speech:

Here’s Obama’s speech: