Liberal Democrats like former Representative Abigail Spanberger in Virginia and Representative Mickey Sherrill in New Jersey are running for governor with a message that resonates:deal with potencyFix health care and expand opportunity. If they win, they will be welcomedFutureofdemocratic party,
But there is a trap. There are some policy prescriptions that are bold enough to matter but moderate enough to win.
As it turns out, the US government is already building transformative communities of abundance without the stigma of “socialism.” As it happens, these are communities that Spanberger and Sherrill already know well. Of course, I’m talking about the military.
Every year the military takes a true slice of America and prepares it for upward mobility, training its members to become nurses and engineers, electricians and pilots – secure careers that can serve their country in peace as well as war.
And in return for their service and sacrifice, America signs a social contract to care for these soldiers. While Congress debates why Americans spend twice as much on health care as Western countries for the privilege of dying three years earlier, every military base is an oasis of universal single-payer coverage.
As a young military officer, I saw how military families could focus on service because their government provided them with affordable housing, accessible child care, and the confidence in knowing that their children had access to universal pre-K and high-performing high schools.
While on the job, I earned a fair, middle-class wage in a workplace that was meritocratic and meaningfully diverse. And when I completed my service, the government invested in me again: covering graduate school through the GI Bill without the burden of debt that ensnares so many others.
If we give soldiers a chance to serve their country so they become eligible for these benefits, why not civilians?
Military service is great, but it’s not the only way to serve – and it’s not the only service our country needs. Every time a car drives over one of these 221,800 bridges, American lives are at risk. needs repair And 76,175 which should be completely replaced. We need engineers to fix them. Our economy is limited by the 30 million Americans who lack internet accessWe need linemen to install fiber. At a time when the White House says it is focused on crime, thousands of police officers are vacant in New York, Chicago and Minneapolis. We need police. Above 120 million Americans Live in a health-care-desert county. We need more nurses, doctors and pharmacists. Those moderates who are elected should form a service group to mold them.
If we reward Service Corps veterans with some of the same benefits we already give military privates – affordable housing, debt-free education, access to quality health care – we can tackle our biggest challenges while rebuilding the ladder to the middle class.
About 90 percent american Already in favor of Voluntary National Service. In my role as Advisory Council Chair of Harvard’s Center for Public Leadership, I see how eager young people are to serve. But often, economic fear pushes them towards jobs in finance or consulting. If serving their country guarantees them the same social security that we give to soldiers, I have no doubt that the best and the brightest will come to the front lines of our greatest civic challenges. This is one of our big bets in creating the American Service Fellowship, which includes full tuition and living stipends for more than 50 public servants and Army, Peace Corps, and AmeriCorps veterans to pursue degrees at Harvard Kennedy School.
If Spanberger and Sherrill win their races, and assume their respective gubernatorial positions, they would be uniquely positioned to launch a state-level Service Corps, both because they need the service, and also because they have the means to reward it: first-time homebuyer assistance, lifetime preference for state-subsidized childcare, matching savings accounts, and even recruitment for state employment. Priorities. Over time, states can build reciprocity, design a national program, and make service a coveted, even expected, rite of passage.
This kind of ethos helps build America’s common destiny. The military has always been a mix of faith, class, race and region. When Americans from all walks of life come together to serve, they find common ground. Dreamers learn about their country’s needs and put their talents to work. Cynics learn to love their country, father and all. Red-Staters and Blue-Staters learn to see our country as a common project. And politicians, knowing that every family has “a stake in the game”, will lead as if the entire country is their responsibility.
Liberals should not be afraid of this idea. This is not socialism – this is service. It is rooted in fairness, reciprocity, and patriotism, values that most Americans already embrace. Ronald Reagan, George HW Bush, and Bill Clinton all championed versions of national service. Now expanding that approach is both practical and popular.
If opportunity is the lock, service is the key. It’s time for a GI Bill for everyone.
Nate Bruschi is Managing Partner at Anchorwork Inc. and Chair of the Harvard Center for Public Leadership Advisory Council.
