[speaker001:] What do you think about the, uh, Peace Corps or public service commitment?
[speaker002:] Uh, that's the first I've ever heard of it. I haven't heard of it, anything too much about it. Um,
[speaker001:] Well, I think it was, uh, thought up when there was so much controversy about reviving a draft and people said, well, they, uh, young people who were drafted have to provide military service to the country, but there are an awful lot of young people who would benefit from, um, some sort of public service,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] like the Conservation Corps back in the thirties or, uh, various other things of that sort. And it seems to me [baby] that it's, it's not a totally bad idea, but I don't quite see how they'd make it work.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] How would they decide who goes into, uh, building fire breaks in Yosemite National Park and who goes to Saudi Arabia?
[speaker002:] Right, yeah. I, the, my first impression was, um, it would be v-, very good. I think it would be good for people to serve, but I don't know if it should be an option. It would be great to have some of those organizations like you mentioned that were during the Depression or coming out of the Depression available for kids. And I think there are some available now where they are able to work, but making it a mandatory thing kind of,
[speaker001:] Yeah, the, the difficulty would be in whether it's voluntary or involuntary.
[speaker002:] Right.
[speaker001:] And the people who were proposing it said that it should be involuntary, that it should be like a draft.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] And some people would get military service and some people would get civilian, uh,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] service, like working in hospitals. This, I assume it's the kinds of things that they had conscientious objectors do,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] when people were drafted and they refused to serve in the Army, they were allowed to do hospital service or, uh, things like that, and if they re-, or farm work in World War One I remember
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] uh, reading about. And, and I suppose that there is, uh, justification for taking everybody if you take anybody.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] But I just really think that the difficulties involved in paying them, uh, sorting them out, assigning them,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] training them would be insurmountable.
[speaker002:] It seems like you'd have a lot more conscie-, conscientious objectors if they had that choice.
[speaker001:] Yeah, well [LAUGHTER] it's a possibility.
[speaker002:] Yeah, you know, I'd, I'd much rather work in a hospital than, than to go war and I'm sure most young men and women would. And so, uh,
[speaker001:] Well, I think that in the, in the cases that, like that, uh, they had to be, uh, pretty thoroughly examined to prove that they had pacifist and religious beliefs and so forth,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] and that this wasn't something new just to keep out of going to war. It was, uh, something that was a fundamental part of their philosophy of life.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh. Well, that makes sense. And then you run into, again, to, um, the bureaucracy in running it. You know, how you going to
[speaker001:] Oh, yeah.
[speaker002:] cover that many people because we've got a lot more people now than we did then
[speaker001:] Sure, and,
[speaker002:] so,
[speaker001:] in addition to that, we have the cost because you have to pay something for,
[speaker002:] Right.
[speaker001:] their room and board and then you have to pay them some kind of a stipend,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] uh, even if it's like the Peace Corps where they don't get most of it until they come home,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] you have t-, have to pay them something.
[speaker002:] Plus the training involved.
[speaker001:] Oh, yeah.
[speaker002:] Yeah, that would be expensive in most cases.
[speaker001:] Yeah,
[speaker002:] Because,
[speaker001:] Now I had a lot of friends who went to the Peace Corps, uh, back in the mid sixties
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] and it really did seem to be a worthwhile organization, but on the other hand, I'm not sure what the permanent value of it was. I don't,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] know what we got for all the money. We had an awful lot of idealistic people who went off to, uh, what was then East Pakistan is now Bangladesh,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] and to, uh, Algeria and to, uh, Southeast Asia and lots of, uh, out-of-the-way places. But I don't know if they really had significant effects in the places where they went,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] in teaching the people how to cope with their lives better.
[speaker002:] Well, I know in, I personally took a year and a half and went as a missionary and taught Christianity in Japan.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] And I was living such a stringent lifestyle that it was very beneficial to me. It taught me not to be so self-centered and it, you know, to think of others.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] But I don't know if I was doing it in different situation, you know, not a really religious background, if, if I would get a lot out of it. You know, I think I did because it, you know, it emphasized that sort of thing. You know, a lot of
[speaker001:] Sure.
[speaker002:] self evaluation.
[speaker001:] And it was definitely voluntary, too. They were not drafting you and sending you,
[speaker002:] Right.
[speaker001:] against your will.
[speaker002:] Right. And that, I'm sure that would make a big difference, too. You know, you've got,
[speaker001:] Yeah. Well, what about a voluntary program? Do you think that would be a good idea?
[speaker002:] Um, well, like I say, I know that there are some type of programs that they have available for a youth, like teenagers to go and do, um, work in the national parks and work in, uh, neighborhoods to do, um, clean up and that sort of thing. But I don't know what organization it's under. I don't know if it's a government run or if it's a private
[speaker001:] I don't either.
[speaker002:] charity that's put it together. But I know that that helps a lot with training and, um
[speaker001:] Yeah, out here in California,
[speaker002:] a lot of,
[speaker001:] there's a program like that for, uh, juvenile delinquents, the, the ones that are not dangerous and they don't have to be locked up go to these, uh, camps. And they,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] do forestry work. They maintain trails and they, uh, put up signs and they do fire prevention work and certainly things of that sort.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] And that I know is run by the State, but there may be other things. I'm not so sure what kind of, uh, training that is for the future for those kids.
[speaker002:] Yeah, how much benefit,
[speaker001:] It's probably a,
[speaker002:] it'll do them in the long run?
[speaker001:] a very good way to keep them off the streets and out of trouble, but whether it's something that they can put to, to economic use later on is a different subject.
[speaker002:] Right, especially in, you know, if you take a, a child that's from the inner city and then put them in the, a middle of a park, if they go back to the inner city, they may not see trees for a while,
[speaker001:] That's true [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] much less be able to take care of them [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] Good point [LAUGHTER], oh.
[speaker002:] So that's, yeah, so that may not, may not benefit them in the long run.
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] But,
[speaker001:] Yeah, I'm sorry, I'm going to have to go, but my other line is blinking.
[speaker002:] Okay, well, thank you.
[speaker001:] But it was good to talk to you.
[speaker002:] You, too, bye-bye.