Country First?
Service to one’s country- there can be no greater cause- serving for the greater good- no greater calling. These are the values being heavily promoted by both Presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain. They want to increase incentives to promote service on a national level (like increasing the size of AmeriCorps and the military). They tell us, let’s put “country first.” I do not want to put country first; I want to put myself first.
Service to one’s country (whether it is military, community, or political service) is indeed a righteous endeavor. However, service and volunteerism are only viable on a micro level and primarily when they are recreational activities. Volunteering for local causes via your own volition is healthy and beneficial. Serving in the armed forces is undoubtedly noble and necessary.
However, once service to one’s country becomes a national prerogative, undesired consequences are inevitably the result. When military service becomes a primary goal for a country, militarism is the result. When community service becomes the dominant aspiration for government, communism is the outcome. Even if these extremes are never met, increasing service to ones country through national programs will result in negative consequences.
Service through national programs results in reliance and eventually dependence on the program by volunteers and benefactors alike. Additionally, the service these programs offer is usually based on bureaucratic greed-not communal need. Conversely, putting self first is one of the founding principles of capitalism and America. Capitalist societies are so successful primarily because every individual looks out for themselves, not the community. Capitalist societies serve everyone better than country centric nations. The great Adam Smith said it best: “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.”
In short, self interest serves everyone better because it requires offering other individuals betterment in return for your own. The promotion of service and volunteerism by Sen. Obama and Sen. McCain should be looked upon with skepticism. In America, volunteerism has its place, but it should never replace self interest.
