What Makes a Good Citizen?

by Shana Ogren Lourey

Would it feel wrong to be drafted to help others?

It was our official commemorative Veterans Day last month on November 11. On that day, I think of civic duty and wonder if I am doing my job to fulfill it.

What does it mean to serve one’s country? Or to serve the world?

What if we were to require non-military national (or international) service for our citizens? In Austria and Switzerland there is an organization called Zivildienst, which provides its citizens with the opportunity to avoid enlistment in the military if they wish to by completing an alternative civil service.

In Austria, for those who object to the draft for military service, they instead can spend nine months serving at an NGO, a nursing home, a hospital, or in a ministry.

Zivildienst Emblem

The Swiss Zivildienst provides a wide range of civic opportunities for its citizens, including work in health care, environmental protection, agriculture, or assistance in development abroad.

The Peace Corps, which asks American citizens to donate two years of their lives in giving assistance to a developing nation, was started in 1961. We continued to develop programs to help others, both abroad and at home.

AmeriCorps provides volunteers opportunities in non-profit organizations such as Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America. Groups like AmeriCorps give the volunteer a living allowance and often a paid education award.

What could we lose by requiring one another to participate in such endeavors?

Some of our high schools and colleges have begun implementing a requirement of volunteer hours served for graduation or completion of a degree.

Is it wrong to have mandatory values? I am shocked regularly at how much my own three year old son seems born empty; empty of right and wrong. He does what he needs to do to survive and thrive, and otherwise would seemingly give no thought to others unless we taught him to. I think I used to believe (or hope) that we were born good, or talented, or kind. I am now unsure.

I do know that we can teach ourselves and each other to be good, talented, and kind. Why not require it by law?