Sheldon Richman: National servitude

  To make citizens, we must facilitate the shared experiences that cultivate civic pride and responsibility.

  This should mean a period of full-time national service as a rite of passage for every young American, ages 18 to 28. Such service could be military or civilian. Young adults could choose the Army or Peace Corps, Marine Corps or AmeriCorps, the Navy or VISTA.

  So exhort John Bridgeland and Alan Khazei, co-chairs of the Franklin Project at the Aspen Institute, writing at Politico under the title “National Service Is Key to National Strength.”