The New Hitler Youth

Last summer, then-candidate Barack Obama proposed “a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded” as the regular military. Slightly different versions of his proposal now have passed both houses of Congress. The bill calls for “a workable, fair, and reasonable mandatory service requirement for all able young people.” It also clearly anticipates such service to be universal, including elementary school students. 

The Washington Examiner describes the proposal as summoning up “unsettling memories of World War II-era paramilitary groups by saying the new program should ‘combine the best practices of civilian service with the best aspects of military service,’ while establishing ‘campuses’ that serve as ‘operational headquarters,’ complete with ‘superintendents’ and ‘uniforms’ for all participants. It allows for the elimination of all age restrictions in order to involve Americans at all stages of life. And it calls for creation of ‘a permanent cadre’ in a ‘National Community Civilian Corps.’

Those old enough to remember the 1960s find this creepily reminiscent of Chairman Mao’s Red Brigades during Communist China’s “Cultural Revolution;” our grandparents might be thinking of Germany’s Hitler Youth of the 1930s and 40s. In both cases, citizen membership in paramilitary groups was mandatory (with prison camps or execution for those unwilling or deemed unworthy to participate), and the main purpose of the organizations was to silence all dissent through shame or violence. The Red Brigades in particular was a large scale Prætorian Guard, loyal to Mao rather than to the nominal rulers of China.

The US Senate version of “The Serve America Act,” sponsored by Massachusetts Democrat Ted Kennedy, was amended to remove some of the most egregious sections. The bill now goes to a conference committee -- where every bad section eliminated from the Senate version will be reinstated.

The language of the bill and its purpose are blasphemous to the US Constitution and to the American tradition of individualism. Let this be a reminder that our current administration and congress (not to mention the ACLU) are not at all concerned about individual liberty.