Public Service Academy

You may recall that I posted an article about Hillary Clinton endorsing a Public Service Academy.

My initial reaction was “can anything endorsed by Hillary Clinton have any merit?” making me skeptical of such a venture.

I received the following email from Chris Myers Asch, who wrote up the proposal for the Public Service Academy and is one of its co-founders.

Take a look at what he has to say. Then check-out for yourself whether a Public Service Academy is a good idea or not.

While I appreciate the publicity that you have brought to the U.S. Public Service Academy, I must disagree with your assessment of the idea. I understand that you may not trust Sen. Clinton and thus you are concerned about the Academy idea, but I urge you to keep an open mind about it until you can learn more.

There is a movement to build the Academy that extends far beyond Sen. Clinton or her campaign. Sen. Clinton has co-sponsored the Senate legislation, but we have bipartisan support -- folks like Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and Rep. Tom Davis, as well as many military leaders (including the last three superintendents of West Point) are also behind the bill. They certainly are not interested in building a school to perpetuate government bureaucracy, and neither are we.

APSAThis is not a Democratic idea, nor is it a Republican idea. It is an American idea. It promises to revitalize our public sector by developing stronger leadership. Why does this idea appeal to conservatives? For a number of reasons:

  1. The Academy will make government better, not bigger.
  2. The Academy will focus on character, leadership development, and patriotic service.
  3. The Academy will challenge American higher education to do more to encourage a sense of duty and civic obligation.

Ironically, our strongest opposition to date generally has come from liberals in higher education who think they already do a fine job of preparing our public leaders. Perhaps you agree with them. We think America deserves better.

I encourage you and your readers to find out more about the movement to build the Public Service Academy by visiting:
http://www.uspublicserviceacademy.org

Thanks,
Chris Myers Asch

Here’s their mission statement:

The mission of the U.S. Public Service Academy is to educate, develop, and inspire civilian leaders who have the character, intellect, and experience necessary to serve the nation honorably and effectively, and who are committed to devoting their lives to public service.

The Academy is dedicated to creating a corps of passionate and patriotic civilian leaders willing to devote themselves to the pursuit of academic excellence, civic engagement, and leadership through public service.

The Academy seeks to develop students who pursue the highest ideals of human character and the American values of freedom, democracy, and equal opportunity; strive for individual excellence yet feel a personal responsibility to achieve the common good; and appreciate their rights and uphold their responsibilities as citizens of the United States. As an academic institution, the Academy is committed to free and open inquiry, free expression of ideas, and the pursuit of truth. As a public institution, the Academy strives to connect the classroom and community through a consistent commitment not only to creating knowledge but also to sharing and applying that knowledge to serve the American public and world at large. As a national institution, the Academy endeavors to build a corps of civilian leaders willing and able to confront the challenges that face this country in the future.

Published Monday, July 30, 2007 1:41 PM by Right-Mind

Comments

# re: Public Service Academy

The guy has his head so far up inside that he doesn't even realize he's a State-worshipping socialist. He just assumes his way of seeing things is normative. When he talks about making government better it is obvious that for him, there simply is no government that is not the civil magistrate. Church government, family government, and self-government in terms of biblical principles -- the principles upon which our nation was originally founded -- are foreign to him. As far as the government that he refers to, the very last thing that I want is for it to work better. It may burn through money like an Abrams tank guzzles fuel, but at least the people can still enjoy a modium of freedom in the gaps of government inefficiency. This proposal from Chris Myers Asch are highly repugnant, but I bet he'll have a hard time comprehending how anyone could be opposed to his "American idea."

Monday, July 30, 2007 3:30 PM by cdwitmer

# re: Public Service Academy

#2 from above.  

"Character" by whose standards?  

"Leadership development" according to RE Lee and G Washington or Machiavelli and Lenin?  "Patriotic service" according to the cult of nationalism, with the President as the Dear Leader?

Hand-in-glove with this service academy is a little something from Anne Williamson: "Thanks to the enterprising left a palatable framework of universal service is evolving, in which all of America's young people will be registered for national service and, drawing on personal information gleaned from the giant government databases now being built, will be assigned to community service, combat service, or homeland defense.  The kicker may be a requirement of completed service before access to higher education and government financing for it will be granted.  It is not improbable to see a "deal" for Social Security on the horizon, i.e., in exchange for reduced benefits and an increase in the retirement age Boomer seniors will be guaranteed the services of enscripted "community brigades" for home care."  For 18 year olds that means slavery.  More on this can be found in a piece by Jonathan Alter called The Case for National Service.

Monday, July 30, 2007 5:41 PM by Kate

# Public Service Academy -- Redux

You may recall that I posted an article about Hillary Clinton endorsing a Public Service Academy (see

Monday, August 06, 2007 7:46 AM by Right Mind