On this July 4th, 2013 in the United States we reflect on a declaration. The Operational Risk Management (ORM) of the nation was a priority in 1776 and the "word smiths" surrounding Thomas Jefferson penned our most precious document.
The information contained in the "Declaration of Independence" has withstood 237 years of debate, rule of law and service to the Republic to defend all that it stands for. However, only 1% of U.S. citizens now serve in the military defense of what the country believes in and preserving our "certain unalienable Rights". This is a failure of leadership and the Operational Risks of our nation will continue to increase from within our borders, without a substantial solution to comprehensive civilian service.
There are however a few brave people across the United States who have served not only as leaders of the 1%, but as future leaders of the 100%. You see, the "Franklin Project" is the ideal way for our country to manage a spectrum of current and future risks upon us. Even a way for the thousands of 501(c)3 charities to converge and share a single and cohesive strategy for not just a few people to serve, but for all those U.S. citizens able to serve, early in their lives:
Each citizen has the opportunity to give back to the improvement of our nation through non-profit charities, religious institutions and especially our military. What we have accomplished so far is only a start and still years away from what America is capable of achieving. Civilian National Service will someday be a way for our youth to establish their sense of leadership, philanthropy and strong moral foundation.
God speed to the Franklin Project on our national birthday celebration!
The information contained in the "Declaration of Independence" has withstood 237 years of debate, rule of law and service to the Republic to defend all that it stands for. However, only 1% of U.S. citizens now serve in the military defense of what the country believes in and preserving our "certain unalienable Rights". This is a failure of leadership and the Operational Risks of our nation will continue to increase from within our borders, without a substantial solution to comprehensive civilian service.
There are however a few brave people across the United States who have served not only as leaders of the 1%, but as future leaders of the 100%. You see, the "Franklin Project" is the ideal way for our country to manage a spectrum of current and future risks upon us. Even a way for the thousands of 501(c)3 charities to converge and share a single and cohesive strategy for not just a few people to serve, but for all those U.S. citizens able to serve, early in their lives:
What is the Franklin Project?
The Franklin Project is a new venture by the Aspen Institute to marshal the best case for a voluntary civilian counterpart to military service in the United States. At the 2012 Aspen Ideas Festival, General Stanley McChrystal called for large-scale civilian national service to engage more Americans in serving community and country. We believe national service can and should become a common expectation and common opportunity for all Americans to strengthen our social fabric and solve our most pressing national challenges. To realize this vision, the Franklin Project engages outstanding Americans from the private sector, higher education, government, the military, the faith community, the philanthropy, and nonprofit organizations, to develop innovative policy ideas and to build momentum around advancing a new vision of civilian service for the 21st century. Our goal is to create one million new opportunities for large-scale civilan national service.
What is national service? Why now?So America, what are we waiting for to change the way our youth serves and our nation treats national service?
National service has always been in the DNA of Americans. By committing to spend a year or more serving our nation full-time, we have the opportunity to strengthen our social fabric, improve on individual skillsets, and solve some of the nation’s most pressing challenges. Today, application numbers for national service programs such as AmeriCorps, City Year, and Teach for America, are higher than ever before. The Corporation for National and Community Service, which supports AmeriCorps programs, reported that there were 582,000 applications for just 83,000 national service positions last year. This means that nearly 500,000 people who were ready and willing to commit themselves to full-time national service were turned away. The current capacity for national service opportunities is thus outpaced the incredible demand.
- See more at: http://www.aspeninstitute.org/policy-work/franklin-project/about-us#sthash.J3m9HyFj.dpuf
Each citizen has the opportunity to give back to the improvement of our nation through non-profit charities, religious institutions and especially our military. What we have accomplished so far is only a start and still years away from what America is capable of achieving. Civilian National Service will someday be a way for our youth to establish their sense of leadership, philanthropy and strong moral foundation.
God speed to the Franklin Project on our national birthday celebration!
