Bush’s community service plan is a bad idea.

Released on: Friday, June 14, 2002

In commencement remarks at Ohio State University, President Bush called on graduates to make “a culture of service” a permanent part of American life. He told graduates that they will determine whether “we become a culture of selfishness and look inward” or “embrace a culture of service and look outward.”

Edward Hudgins, the Washington director of the Objectivist Center, a national philosophic think-tank, says Bush has it all wrong. He says Americans should be proudly selfish. The author of an op-ed on “Is Community Service Really a Good Idea?” and a Ph.D. in political philosophy, Dr. Hudgins states, “Personal responsibility, not charity, is the true measure of moral worth.”

“It’s not how much we give to others, but the extent to which we take responsibility for our own lives,” says Dr. Hudgins. “If more people exercised rational judgment and self-discipline, we wouldn't need a permanent standing army of volunteers.”

Bush has created the new federal USA Freedom Corps to pay volunteers. Dr. Hudgins thinks that the Bush plan smacks more of force than voluntarism. “The President wants to pay these ‘volunteers’ with taxes. That means that we're forcing people to pay for a volunteer service.” Hudgins does recognize self-interested reasons for helping others. “Americans gave generously after the September 11th attacks to help correct an injustice. It's in our interest to foster a society of independent, productive, and creative people.” But, he adds, “Millions of immigrants came to America not to service others or to be served but to build the best lives for themselves and their families.”

Hudgins says that a government service program will make Americans servile and weak, further eroding our ethical infrastructure. “It is immoral because it implies that we must earn our freedom through service to others when in fact, each of us has the individual and unalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. America,” he says, “needs a moral revival based on personal responsibility and rational-self-interest.”

*** Edward L. Hudgins is the Washington Director for The Objectivist Center (www.objectivistcenter.org). The Objectivist Center is a national not-for-profit think tank promoting the values of reason, individualism, freedom, and achievement in American culture. ***

The Objectivist Center is a national non-profit think tank promoting the values of reason, individualism, freedom and achievement in America. For more information about the Objectivist Center, please visit www.ObjectivistCenter.org.

NOTE TO EDITORS: Dr. Hudgins is available for interviews. Photo available.

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