Column: Obama's 'America Serves' Will Expand Community Outreach

This story was written by Egon Donnarumma, The Daily Campus

While perusing the Barack Obama Web site as well as his transition team Web site, change.gov, I happened upon his 'America Serves' initiative. This plan offers potentially startling insight as to what is to come under the future administration. While "spreading the wealth" of happiness to all Americans is an admirable goal, it absolutely should not come at the expense of sacrificing the liberty of the individual from government regulation over his life.

Obama's 'America Serves' plan is a multifaceted attempt to expand community service programs throughout the country. The startling part is that it will involve the goal of requiring all middle and high school students to complete 50 hours of community service a year and, sorry to break the news for all those not graduating this spring, 100 hours a year for college students. That is an additional two hours of work a week for every week of all four, or five, or six, years you spend in college. While this will not be entirely without compensation (there will include a $4,000 tax credit for those college students) it violates the basic principle of the liberty of Americans to choose how to live their lives.

Hopefully the plan that will finally be implemented will be largely incentive-based and not compulsory, but the Obama Web site gives no sign to this. On BarackObama.com, this plan is under the title to "Require 100 Hours of Service in College." For those of you who thought you were lucky to still have a few years of school thus avoiding a dreadful job search in a staggering economy, plan your schedules accordingly. Next year you may all very well have at least two hours a week removed from your lives to be conscripted by the state into 'volunteer' service. While your parents will be happy to see $4,000 knocked off the tuition bill that is only rising annually, it is unlikely most of you will be pleased to skip out on the endless search for a gem of a bumper sticker on Facebook to commit yourself diligently to serve the needy community of Storrs.

This critique is not with the intent of condemning participation in volunteer work or community service. I myself have committed hundreds of unpaid hours serving as a firefighter in my community. However, this is a personal choice that I make. Under no compulsion or coercion was this service imposed on me by the government. Service to one's community is, of course, a worthy cause and, as citizens, we should all feel a personal sense of duty to our community and nation. The vital part of this, though, is that it remains a choice to be made by the individual. It is not volunteer work if it is imposed on an individual, despite whatever credit is given toward tuition. The fundamentals of this nation were to the individual's right to life, the individual's liberty from government control and the individual's pursuit of what he decides will bring him happiness. As positive of a goal as serving one's community is, if it is dictated by the state, it is an infringement of one's liberty as an American citizen. For all those who passionately look forward to change come January, be ready. What was previously your precious time to sleep off the weekend's escapades or to polish up the conclusion to a paper due at 8 a.m. tomorrow morning will now be what the ever-growing bureaucracy that is the federal government deems appropriate for your, and everyone else's, life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.