Listen up! I need a volunteer.

By Joseph Walther

Sometimes I hang out at the “mall.” In this case, I was hanging out at the Concord Mall in New Castle County, Delaware, just about a mile from the Pennsylvania State Line. It was late Friday afternoon.

There I was, seated at a small table at the North end of the mall, sipping on a glass of iced-tea. Suddenly, like a finely tuned sonar system, my ears detected the sound and my head automatically turned to track its direction and pinpoint its precise source.

The sound’s source was a man’s voice. No more than ten feet to my left, a group of 8-people had pulled three tables together. They were in their 60s or older and were all discussing some steps our government could take to decrease expenses.

Specifically, the sound that earned my immediate attention was one man’s voice as he uttered a term. The term? “Compulsory Volunteerism!”

I immediately turned my digital voice recorder on and moved a bit closer to the group. He used the term, “compulsory volunteerism” three times in under 4-minutes. He was seriously in favor of this, as were at least five of his friends.

The first time I heard this term used was several years ago when retired General Wesley Clark, campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination to run against George W. Bush in the 2004 general election, used it to describe his idea of a “civilian reserve force.”

According to the General, folks like you and I could sign on for a period of five years—voluntarily, of course. Once we were “in,” our president could call us up for periods of six months. He could send us anywhere in the world.

I am helpless when it comes to minding my own business whenever I hear this sort of stupidity. And, make no mistake about it. Stupidity IS stupidity whether it comes from Liberals or Conservatives.

He must have seen me looking. My facial expression had to be screaming horrified disbelief! If he missed that, certainly the repeated “no” motion of my head most certainly told him that I disagreed with him.

“So what’s wrong with getting people to volunteer,” he asked, looking straight at me. “Nothing,” I answered. “But first you need to understand how silly the term, ‘compulsory volunteerism’ sounds,” I finished.

I asked him if he volunteers his time for anything. He told me that he regularly volunteers at his church to help collect food to feed the hungry. He told me he also volunteers to do other odd jobs around his church.

“If you decided to stop doing these things for your church, could the church refuse to let you off the hook,” I asked him. “No,” he answered. “That’s why it’s called volunteering,” he continued as though he had me in the throes of a gigantic gotcha.

“Agreed,” I said. “Now, do you see any semblance of a contradiction in the term, “compulsory volunteerism,” I asked. He just stared at me. He must have felt trapped, so I eased up a bit.

I tried to explain that people have a right to “volunteer” for any cause—legal, of course—that they deem worthy. But, for the same reason, they can stop volunteering whenever they wish to do so.

“THIS is TRUE volunteerism,” I told him. “We can’t force people to volunteer. Otherwise it isn’t volunteering.” The rest of the group seemed to get it, but he didn’t—at least it seemed so to me.

Every time I hear people talking about our “volunteer” military force, I have to laugh. I’m not against a volunteer military. I think we have the finest military the world has yet to see, but I think there is a serious misconception about what “volunteer force” means.

The only thing that is “voluntary” about military service in this country is that, now, people voluntarily join instead of our government ordering them to do so as in the use of the military draft of yesteryear.

Once they’ve joined, signed the induction forms, and taken the oath, volunteering is over. From that point on, they are compelled to serve, even to the death, for the period outlined in their service contract.

If, for ANY reason, they decide to “un-volunteer” themselves, they’ll find out in short order just how snotty the military becomes over it. The military deserters housed at Fort Leavenworth Federal Prison can explain the concept in vivid detail.

I am old enough to remember post WW-II film footage of German civilian labor battalions. These consisted of people who “volunteered” to do menial work for the Nazi Regime… you know, keeping the homeland all spiffy for Hitler.

Once they volunteered to “join,” they could not “un-join.” Well, they could, actually, as long as they didn’t mind being shot.

While the General Clark did not mean that our government should execute members of a “volunteer” work force for “un-volunteering,” I have no doubt that there would be some level of “consequences” for doing so, just as there are “consequences” for “un-volunteering” from military service.

I am an American. I love my country. I have served in the military, including two combat tours in Viet Nam. Still, even today at the age of sixty-six, I’d give my life in defense of our Constitution and Bill of Rights.

But—I don’t care who is president—we need to end this obsession we have of permitting our elected officials and the media to get away with scamming us by “redefining” definitions, no matter how noble and patriotic they sound.

Our presidents are citizens just as we are. We elect them to administer the government functions outlined in the Constitution. They have to live by the same laws as we do. But, judging by the last 8-years in particular, I’m not so sure anymore.

The notion that an individual aspiring to the Office of President would submit such a ridiculous notion as “compulsory volunteerism” sickens me. That ANY members of an intelligent electorate would buy into it scares the hell out of me.

I most dearly respect the Office of President. However, I have NEVER agreed with everything our Presidents have said or done, no matter who held the office or which party. Not only do I voice my opposition, I feel an obligation to do so.

Voicing legitimate disagreement with our government or NOT volunteering our time just because a U. S. President calls for it does not make us unpatriotic.

On the other hand, blindly agreeing and adhering to whatever our government proclaims has nothing to do with patriotism. It’s plain old nationalism.

Instead of placing love for country above all else, nationalists place their hatred for other countries above all else. Such people seem to think that agreeing with their government—at any cost—is an imperative.

It isn’t, of course. And, during the impending campaign for the Presidency, we need to pay closer attention to all attempts at “redefining” definitions.

Let’s make a special effort at understanding a sometimes-subtle, but nevertheless real, difference between patriotism and nationalism. If we don’t, all of us may one day become compulsory volunteers in a one of those so-called “benevolent” dictator’s “labor battalions.”

Happy Father’s Day! This includes not just the men who are loving dads, but also the loving moms who must also be dads.

Joe Walther is a freelance writer and publisher of The True Facts. You may comment on his column by clicking here.