A Domestic Corps: Inspiring Our Youth, Enhancing Our Country

I sometimes hear expert opinions about the “youth of today,” bemoaning the current generation of adolescents and young adults. Those experts might invoke a variety of personal or social woes, using words like “selfish, lost, fearful, self-destructive or dangerous.” They seem to be alarmist about the very subjects of their expertise.

As one who has worked with and studied young people over decades, I’ve certainly heard similar dire pronouncements. I am dismayed by these pronouncements, but these sentiments about our youth are not solely a contemporary phenomenon: Negative perceptions about the younger generations are as ancient as humanity itself:

• A stone tablet found around 2000 BC in the Biblical City of Ur (now in Iraq) was etched with these opinions about their youth: “ … they disrespect their parents, they talk loudly and eat gluttonously … They are prone to strong desires, and are ready to carry out any desire into action.”
• The philosopher Socrates (470-399 BC) said of youth, “ … they now love luxury; they have bad manners and contempt for authority … they are discourteous, they contradict their parents ... they are tyrants, and tyrannize their teachers.”
• In Shakespeare’s play “A Winter’s Tale,” first performed in 1611, a character states, “I would there were no age between ten and three-and-twenty, or that youth would sleep out the rest, for there is nothing in the between except getting wenches with child, wronging the ancientry, stealing and fighting."
• In William Golding’s 1954 classic book, Lord of the Flies, youthful characters are used as metaphors for all humanity but portrayed as preternaturally cruel and hateful.

While these depictions paint a rather bleak portrait of our younger generations, they don’t happen to reflect my own (and many others’) perspectives.

The potential in today's young people

When I have met, worked with, or taught young people here and in other countries, I have often been moved and enthused by their intelligence and energy, and by their searching for fulfillment. I have been impressed by their positive energy, optimism, and hopefulness which, through “social contagion,” engages and inspires me and others.

I have, of course, met other young people who were in more challenging situations. Some had family or school difficulties, others had psychological or psychiatric problems, or drug or alcohol issues, and others were in trouble with the law. These young people projected, again via social contagion, moods and demeanors which were unsettling, like hopelessness, sadness, or anger.

When I studied and worked with young adult members of cults and other intense belief systems, it was clear that prior to joining these kinds of groups, they too had felt alienated, self-questioning, and demoralized. But after joining and during their most intense periods of zealous attachment to the groups, their preoccupations with personal or social miseries diminished dramatically or even disappeared, at least for a while.

Note: By no means am I suggesting that radical groups or intense belief systems are “solutions” to young peoples’ angst or alienation. Membership in these intense groups is usually short-lived, as is their euphoria, and many of the groups are devious and detrimental.

What I am saying, however, is that most young people, whether in good personal situations, challenging circumstances, or even in dire straits, want and search for ways to feel better about their lives and themselves. They want a personal sense of identity, of feeling grounded, optimistic, and energized, with good relationships and meaningfulness in their lives. They are captivated by people who seem to have accomplished this positive state of being.

What they are searching for is what we all wish for in our own lives, which is what I call “The Four Bs.” In order to feel fulfilled and meaningful in their lives, they strive to achieve the sense of: Being (“I am a worthwhile being”); Belonging (“I am important to others”); Believing (“I live according to moral principles”); and Benevolence (“I am kind to others”).

The need for a "domestic corps"

Young people have always been at the cusp of social change and have pushed social boundaries. They have experimented with new ideas for human progress and have been engaged in the revolutions of history. They have campaigned for social equality and against racism and violence, and participated in volunteer activities and work with the poor, the aged, and the dispossessed. Many have been leaders in the struggle against global warming and our carbon footprint.

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But we have also seen that same youthful energy and ideological searching directed into militant, religious, political, or social zealotry. Extreme nationalists, authoritarian populists, racists, and urban street gangs tend to attract particularly frustrated and angry young people searching for a cause that will engage and enthrall them.

I have a respectful proposal: Why don’t we try to captivate the personal energies, the searches for meaning, relationships, and idealism of our young people?

I believe we can redirect their need for the Four Bs to work for the common good for both the nation and themselves. We can captivate and harness and the energy and idealism of young adults into benevolent actions on behalf of our country, as in a “Domestic Corps.” The participants could do a variety of beneficial (to society and themselves) jobs, like tending to the elderly, helping in nursery schools, teaching students, working on the infrastructure or other public works, combating climate change, and so many other important endeavors.

This program could be a year-long commitment after high school or later, they could be paid minimum wage, and they could earn get community college, college, vocational school, or university credits. This would be a boon for young people and for society as a whole.

This could be in the form of constructive social actions, as was in FDR’s Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in the 1930s, or in JFK’s VISTA during the 1960s, or in a significantly expanded AmeriCorps (a current iteration), which would encompass beneficial services to the country.

Youth could get college credit and remuneration for work in preschools and schools, hospitals and daycare centers, retirement communities and recreation centers, infrastructure, or street projects. Some young people who run afoul of the law for minor non-violent offenses or drug use could also serve their “time” in these programs and as rehabilitation.

As Margaret Renkl wrote recently in The New York Times, “The need for some nonmartial way to nurture communitarian qualities is more urgent now than ever.”

We could channel the energy and idealism of young people toward their personal intellectual, emotional and social growth while contributing meaningfully to their country. This could be an exciting period for young people searching for meaning and fulfillment in their personal lives, as well as for a nation with its own important social and structural needs and existential quandaries. A win-win” for us all.