Service in a free society
Authors
Seagren, Chad W.
Subjects
Advisors
Date of Issue
2011-05-02
Date
Publisher
Liberty Fund, Inc.
Language
Abstract
Politicians, pundits and social commentators often lament the fact that the United States has no comprehensive program for national service. Both major-party candidates in the 2008 presidential election proposed such plans, and retired Genral Stanley McChrystal recently propsed a national service program. Although McChrystal graciously acknowledges Americans' expressions of gratitude for the service and sacrifices of those in the military, he argues, "Americans performing critical, self-less service to our country are less common than they must be." Many people think tha service to one's country must mean military service. I agree with McChrystal that this interpretation is far too narrow. But if the General would only take his own advice and widen his vision of what it means to serve, he would see that literally millions of Americans diligently serve their country every day. Simply put, in a free societyt, a person who participates in the market serves his or her countrymen in an immensely powerful way.
Type
Article
Description
Series/Report No
Department
Operations Research
Organization
Naval Postgraduate School
Identifiers
NPS Report Number
Sponsors
Funder
Format
Citation
Library of Economics and Liberty, May 2, 2011.