Universal National Service

Apr 5th 2021

I do not mean conscription, or the draft or military service for everyone, but a universal national service which every citizen, men and women, would do. A year of service to the society you live in.

The traditional idea was that national service, serving the nation, meant military service for young men. Implicitly this meant that the service women did for the nation, their national service, was having children, and raising the next generation. A very traditional view of different roles in society.

Traditionally societies used to be more homogeneous, national identities were more clearly defined and the world was not as global as it is today.

Among other things, immigration, legal and illegal, and refugee settlement have changed societies, and globalisation and the digital revolution have shrunk the world. In developed nations, education levels have gone up, people spend more time studying and start families later, and the birthrate is lower and family size is getting smaller.

World is not the same as it was before, so why would national service remain the same?

What I am talking about would not be focused on military service, but on what a society in general needs from its citizens, and what would be beneficial for the citizens. Military service would be a part of the package, but most would do something in the civilian society. Besides, no current military organisation would be able to handle the amount of recruits, if everyone wanted to serve.

This universal national service could be care work, taking care of the elderly, helping them with everyday chores, being a daily human contact. Environmental work could include cleaning beaches, restoring waterways, planting trees, greening cities, and so on. Some could work in disaster and emergency preparedness, and those interested would do military service. The service could also include work in developing countries in education and infrastructure projects. The possibilities are endless.

The national service does not necessarily have to be compulsory, but it should be tied to some future benefits from society, free college or university education for a few years is a good example (in societies where higher education is not free). Or getting extra points in your university admission test for your service.

Though not compulsory, the service should be expected, the basic idea being that every citizen takes part in the common project. The service should be a part of growing up, and a part of life, just as education and work are.

This should not be just a duty for young people, but also an opportunity for them. Opportunity to get experiences and training, opportunity to meet and work with people who are not like you, opportunity to expand your horizon and forge relationships with people from different backgrounds.

The service would create opportunities to have common experiences and common reference points. People from different economic, ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds would work together to solve problems together. They would be exposed to each other’s thinking and culture, and see that there is vastly more that connects us, than there is that separates us. They would learn to trust and respect each other.

What better way is there to bridge gaps between different groups in society and reduce tribalism? What better way to build trust and social cohesion in society in general?

This would obviously cost a lot of money, but the benefits for individuals and society as a whole would be worth it. And this investment in human capital and intangible infrastructure would pay for itself by better integrating individual citizens into society, by making that society more cohesive, and by giving a sense of ownership of the common project to its citizens.

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In the US, The Brookings Institution has some really good ideas on this in a piece called “A New Contract with the Middle Class”. It is a long piece and national service is talked about in the third part “Relationships”.

Also the retired US General Stanley McChrystal has talked about national service on many occasions and is the Chair of the Board of Service Year Alliance which, in their own words; “is working to make a year of paid, full-time service — a service year — a common expectation and opportunity for all young Americans.”

A good piece by Stanley McChrystal in The Time:
Every American Should Serve For One Year