Subject: Re: AUT: bush's speech and volunteerism
Date: Thu, 07 Feb 2002 10:03:34 -0500


>From: Thiago Oppermann <topp8564-AT-mail.usyd.edu.au>
>Reply-To: aut-op-sy-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu
>To: aut op sy <aut-op-sy-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu>
>Subject: Re: AUT: bush's speech and volunteerism
>Date: Thu, 07 Feb 2002 22:51:52 +1100
>
>On 2/7/02 2:40 PM, "Peter Jovanovic" <peterzoran-AT-hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> >
> > as to civil conscription (barred in our constitution i believe) i think 
>the
> > purpose of the 'work-for-dole' scheme  is more to get people used to the
> > shitfullness of work rather than doing any particular services for the
> > state. only a minority of the unemployed are forced into work for the 
>dole
> > anyway.
>
>Work for the dole and other such schemes have very little to do with
>disciplining people for work. They have something to do with providing
>extremely cheap labour for charities and other organs of 'civil society',
>who make a killing from the free volunteers. They have everything to do 
>with
>taking revenge on the poor.
>
>Many people are only too glad to join the work-for-the-dole programs - the
>anger I sense is that the programs don't actually create any sort of
>permanent jobs.
>
>As a footnote, I don't think that civil conscription is barred by the
>Australian constitution. In Papua, legally an Australian territory until
>1975, people could be forced into village labour, building roads and 
>bridges
>and so on.
>
>Thiago
>
>

I'm fairly sure that US law allows civil conscription in times of emergency, 
and in Bush's last speech he made a call for all citizens to serve two 
years/4,000 hours during their lifetimes. I think at this point the programs 
are going to made mandatory but solely incentive-based, rewards like money 
for education, job training, patriotic slaps on the back.
I agree that most of the reason for these types of schemes is to get cheap 
or free labor. In my state, Illinois, employees at private non-profit 
agencies make up around 9% of total employment. The private non-profit 
sector economy runs to around $1 billion per year. The current and proposed 
volunteer schemes are among other things a huge gift to those agencies.
Nate



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