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Editorial: Obama’s National Service Act violates 13th Amendment, contradicts heart of matter

In this current wave of nationalism – Obama’s call for a Cabinet – level Department of National Service – liberty-minded individuals do not have to stretch their imagination far to see the coming Orwellian society.

Orwell talked about a society controlled by propaganda and manipulation of the past, and Obama’s senior advisers and public relations specialists appear to have nothing more than the specific goal of political pandering in mind.

They recently pushed the envelope of community service to the edge of unconstitutionality. 

Rick Stengel, managing editor of Time Magazine, and Senior Adviser Caroline Kennedy for the Obama campaign are two of the five co-chairs for the Service Nation Summit in favor of acting the National Service Act, which requires all citizens between 18 and 42 years of age to voluntarily register for “the uniformed services or in civilian service in furtherance of the national defense and homeland security.”

Obama does not advocate outright compulsion, yet the overall sentiment coincides with his call for a “civilian security force.”

“We cannot continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we’ve set,” Obama said July 2 in a speech to the Colorado Springs campus of the University of Colorado. “We’ve got to have a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded.”

What affects most students is his proposal to require students from middle school through college to perform volunteer community service.

In his proposal, Obama set a goal for middle and high school students to perform 50 hours of community service and college students to serve 100 hours of community service a year.

Not only is he advocating taking away grants, loans and scholarships from students, but he is also willing to take away federal funding to universities that do not force their students to volunteer 100 hours a year.

Most students must maintain employment throughout their college career, some of which must even work full-time or a mix of part-time jobs that take a good portion of their time.

One hundred hours away from work would only add to the stresses of rent, car insurance and being able to concentrate on school.

Plus, compelled voluntarism goes against the entire spirit of actually volunteering to serve one’s community, and it’s unconstitutional.

Though the constitution has not been used in quite some time to define whether legislation is actually legal, under the supreme law of the land, this goes against the spirit of the Constitution and directly violates the 13th Amendment.

Section 1 of the 13th Amendment states: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”

That simplifies things quite a bit – there can be no involuntary service in the United States without a crime being committed.

But trivial legality bares no bearing on national greatness. In the end, it will be working college students who suffer.