Originally posted June 16th, 2014 in Fortune by Eric Zenisek and Mike Stinnett
July 10, 2014
It’s a chance for young people to come together and ease the political gridlock in Washington. It’s no secret that Congress is mired in partisan gridlock. In fact, we are as polarized as at any point since the American Civil War. But what many people don’t know is that, according to a new Pew Research study, Americans are more polarized than at any point in the last two decades. And that’s bad news for America. As the most civic minded and politically independent generation since the Greatest Generation, millennials have a tall task: It’s up to us to repair politics. A shared commitment to national service is essential to reweaving the fabric of American democracy and ameliorating polarization. While there’s no one answer to ending polarization, increasing the number of opportunities for young people to participate in national service opportunities is a critical solution. Indeed, it is no wonder that many former members of Congress say that the body was more bipartisan when they and their colleagues spent more time together in Washington, DC developing personal relationships with fellow members and their families. As former Republican Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott says, if you live near your political opponents and know their families, “it’s impossible to go up on the floor of the Senate or in the media and blast him the next day.” Service – whether elected, military, faith-based, or in the non-profit sector – brings people from across the country and across the aisle together to see eye to eye and learn from each other as they work for a shared purpose. Unfortunately, there are too few opportunities to serve. Programs like Americorps and the Peace Corps are routinely under-funded and unable to handle the volume of applicants. In 2011 alone, AmeriCorps received 582,000 applications for only 80,000 spots. This number is up from 360,000 applications in 2009. While a down economy may have something to do with increased applications, millennials are the most service oriented of any generation. The National Conference on Citizenship reported that millennials lead every generation with a 43% service rate compared to a 35% service rate among baby boomers. In 2009, Congress passed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, which passed with bipartisan support in both the House and the Senate, was intended to raise the number of AmeriCorps opportunities from 80,000 to 250,000 by fiscal year 2017. However, the promise of more service positions has been unfulfilled because of lack of funding. The fact that these opportunities are not more available for our generation is concerning, especially if we expect diversity, a sense of camaraderie, and basic common understanding from our future leaders. We should not be saying no to tens of thousands of America’s potential future leaders who want to give back to our country. To view this article in its entirety, ~1@BODYURL[id=114jbcurl1096]@