okay
go ahead
uh
well you know um
i
think
public service is a worthy thing and as a matter of fact there are a lot of programs uh such as Peace Corps that promote that
um-hum
probably the most popular one but uh one that is not typically recognized as such is the Boy Scouts
um-hum
uh i know that from because my son is a a scout now and uh is thinking about his Eagle
and uh in order to get Eagle you have to have merit badges in um citizenship in the community citizenship in the nation citizenship in the world
right
and you have to do a public service project
um-hum
uh in which leadership is the key element
i um
i think the question is posed somewhat strangely because um
it's talking about uh a requirement for public service
um-hum
uh and of course Peace the Peace Corps the Boy Scouts is a is a voluntary activity
right
uh
i i think that might be talking referring to uh
something kind of uh alternative to the draft you know either you have
uh military service or some sort of alternative nonmilitary service for a few years
right of course um
uh military service falls under the category uh of a public service
right right
and so uh one of the things that would fulfill the at least the nominal uh qualifications set forth in the charge is military service or draft
hm right right
uh but i agree with you that probably is not what was comprehended there are other things such as civil service
well you
um-hum
um which many people uh are lifelong employees of but i suspect that that's not what they had in mind either more of a voluntary kind of thing or uh
right
yeah i uh
yeah it it for for years there has been an idea batted around of having some sort of alternative uh public service for uh young people to go into uh after high school um it
um-hum
kind of in in lieu of the draft for people for people who don't
uh who you know are conscientious objectors or don't otherwise wanna
uh be in the military you know say okay well you can go into the military or you can do this other thing for one or two years to kind of serve the community and and
learn about things and it's it's it's interesting because i i'm not a particular fan of the military
but i have seen a lot of people a lot of young guys go in that don't have
really a clue as to what they want to do with their lives and aren't terribly disciplined you know even even just personal discipline about what they want to do and
they come out and they they at least have now they have at least some marginally marketable skills
and more more discipline and they have uh you know in in some cases they have a greater self-esteem because they can say they can see that you know if i do something
pursue submit my own will to the will of the sargent or whatever at least for a short period of time i can accomplish a lot and it it's a good lesson for a lot of young men to learn
that they don't need to be you know cowboys they don't need to be out there and
uh you know constantly flaunting their ego to get things accomplished
and you know for some for some young men that's good for me it would have been lousy idea idea uh because i i did have the the personal discipline and i went to college four years and got out you know so
why
why is that
but um you know for some people that's good i i don't particular like the fact that it's the military you know and because the whole point of the military is to kill people essentially as as an instrument of US foreign policy
oh no no no it's to defend the nation against external evils
well that's one view and you know and
that's that's another debate but uh it's
um
well it depends on whether you whether we figure that we have that we have a defense oriented military or an aggressive aggression oriented military
um-hum
right right and just well it's
it it seems pretty aggressive aggressive oriented i mean you you look at the last mission military action which was in the Persian Gulf and wasn't anywhere near the United States
and it was um you know it was definitely a projection of US power
on the other side of the globe
so at at any rate this is getting off the topic but it my my point was that there is for people who don't want to do the military service there
it would be neat if there were an alternative that could instill the same sort of personal discipline and sense of purpose and um sense of community
that do do i guess the Boy Scouts
