Spend a year serving your country. Twenty years ago the idea sounded old-fashioned—so old-fashioned that most of the countries that had national service did away with it. But threats to democracies are growing, and, what’s more, Western societies are fragmenting. The concept of serving one’s country—whether in the armed forces or a care home—is making a return.
Last month, Germany’s defense minister, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, presented her new “Your Year for Germany” program, which will be launched next spring, while members of the U.S. Congress are pursuing a “CORPS Act” (short for “Cultivating Opportunity and Response to the Pandemic through Service”) to aid the country’s coronavirus recovery through civic engagement. National service is exactly the answer Western countries need to some of their most serious problems.
