As anyone who follows this site knows I’ve been following the Service Nation organization and Be the Change, Inc.

Due to the recent announcement by president elect that Rahm Emanuel will be his chief of staff and his previous writtings supporting “universal voluntary national service.” I contacted Be the Change, Inc.’s  Tim Zimmermann <tzimmermann@bethechangeinc.org>. The emails went as followed:

bile:

Hello, I’m writing to find out Service Nation / Be The Change, Inc.’s official position on the president elect’s selection of Rahm Emanuel as chief of staff. Would you support an initiative as described in the 2006 co-authored book The Plan? It includes as followed:

——-
It’s time for a real Patriot Act that brings out the patriot in all of us. We propose universal civilian service for every young American. Under this plan, All Americans between the ages of eighteen and
twenty-five will be asked to serve their country by going through three months of basic training, civil defense preparation and community service. …

Here’s how it would work. Young people will know that between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five, the nation will enlist them for three months of civilian service. They’ll be asked to report for
three months of basic civil defense training in their state or community, where they will learn what to do in the event of biochemical, nuclear or conventional attack; how to assist others in an evacuation; how to respond when a levee breaks or we’re hit by a natural disaster. These young people will be available to
address their communities’ most pressing needs.
——-

If I’ve contacted the wrong person please forward this along or let me know who I should contact. Thank you for your time.

Tim Zimmermann:

Hi bile:

No, we don’t support mandatory service. We support only voluntary community and national service. We would love to inspire more Americans to serve their country in some capacity, and to make sure that are opportunities to serve for every American who chooses to do so. But we do not believe in conscription or a universal mandate.

Best, Tim
Tim Zimmermann
Director Of Communications
Be the Change, Inc.
cell: 703-850-0735
BTC: http://www.bethechangeinc.org
ServiceNation: http://www.servicenation.org
Blog: http://changewireblog.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/bethechangeinc

bile:

Thank you for the quick reply. Another question if you would? While the organization does not support mandatory service would it publicly oppose moves to create any form of mandatory service? It’s a subtle
difference and I understand the intent of the organization is not intended to be anti-anything but given the controversy of the topic and the subtle differences in proposed implementations I think it’s important to be as clear as possible.

Thanks again.

Tim Zimmermann:

bile:

I guess I would say we would oppose mandatory proposals by pushing our policy plan for increasing voluntary service instead. I should add, though, that there are no serious proposals for mandatory service. President-elect Obama’s plan does not call for mandatory service, and the major legislation up on the Hill (Senator Kennedys and Senator Hatch’s Serve America Act) does not call for mandatory service. Mandatory service simply does not make any sense. It is not a good idea, there is no infrastructure for it, no public support for it, no leadership support for it, and no money for it. Frankly, it is not something I spend a lot of time worrying about….

Best, Tim
Tim Zimmermann
Director Of Communications
Be the Change, Inc.
cell: 703-850-0735
BTC: http://www.bethechangeinc.org
ServiceNation: http://www.servicenation.org
Blog: http://changewireblog.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/bethechangeinc

So it looks like if mandatory service is enacted in some way Be the Change, Inc. won’t complain. Given the zeal I’ve found coming from the “voluntary national service” supporters I am in no way surprised. And given some members of the Service Nation Coalition clearly support mandatory service it seems unlikely there will be much active opposition to conscription.

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 9th, 2008 at 12:06 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.