If I were running for president, I would be pushing a mandatory term of national service.
Like the draft, but more broad.
Every American citizen, every resident foreign national, over the age of 18 would be required to serve two years in service to the nation. That might be working on infrastructure, doing hospice care in the VA system, doing systems development for the NSA, assisting air traffic controllers at the nation's airports, woking at national parks and monuments. And so forth.
It would also include military service, although that would, as it is now, be voluntary except for some state of declared war, when direct conscription could happen.
The purpose is to put skin in the game of being an American citizen or enjoying the benefit of being an American resident. Freedom actually isn't free. But neither does it mean war. Freedom is paid for but the free citizens. This period of national service would be each citizen's and each resident's down payment on their share of the cost of that freedom.
I favor a two year term.
There can be deferments for service, for university, for example, but no avoidance. Everyone save the profoundly disabled is required to serve. Students can opt for doing their service in a two year gap term between high school and college. Others can opt for doing it after college.
Flame away.
= new reply since forum marked as read
Not a fan of involuntary servitude.
Seriously, this sounds exactly like what I've been saying for a few years now. I am very happy to have company in this opinion.
Basically I agree with every word you wrote, could have wrote it myself, and have written similar before.
All that said, we really do need such a program, but I don't think the country is ready for it at this time, and I wouldn't have any expectation of it being part of the Dem platform this year, much as I might wish it could be.
but not mandatory and not free. Also not substituting service workers for paying jobs like infrastructure and most of the other things you mentioned. I would like something similar to the CCC decades ago when the government paid the unemployed to do work that wouldn't have been done otherwise. It might be transcribing records to the internet so they are available to everyone or updating older data from law enforcement into the background checks for guns. For those not suited to office type work, they could likely find some sort of outside work that needs to be done that no one ever does.
that so many here don't like your idea... I suppose it's the same people who oppose cutting down on meat consumption to save the environment 
I have advocated both for decades
a real lack of civic responsibility is harming our country
alas, we can't have nice things
proposes such an idea. I applaud it. 
One of the best things that mandatory national service helps with is to get away from one's parochial environment to see life as it is actually lived by others and to learn that no matter how different another culture may seem, people everywhere want the same basic things: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. They may simply define those things differently.
National service also helps develop a national consciousness, as opposed simply to a local, state, or regional consciousness.
I was a Peace Corps Volunteer myself. Every single one of us in my group believed that we received more out of the experience than we were able to give. Yet we are still occasionally surprised when we meet someone again whose life we touched at that time and incredibly warmed by the fond memories that they have of us and our stay in their cultures.
