Mill Valley man proposes ‘warm, productive, civilian draft’ for American youth

Mill Valley Herald April 5-11, 2005 (Marinscope chain of papers). Angelica Marden, Editor

Photo by Herman Privette

What can ordinary people do to make the world a more educated, more tolerant and less bloody place?

According to Mill Valley’s Dwayne Hunn, you can write a bill and you can support his peaceful civilian draft.

Hunn has penned a World Service Corps Resolution and Bill proposal to request that the president institute a “warm, productive civilian draft,” and hopes Washington will take notice.

The draft would require all Americans ages 18 to 26 to give at least one year of peaceful service through programs like the Peace Corps, AmeriCorps, HeadStart, Habitat for Humanity, Doctors Sans Borders and the Red Cross.

“America would be a safer place, and it wouldn’t cost as much as sending soldiers to war,” said Hunn, who believes sending a million young people into the world community would both educate Americans and foster understanding and critical social ties between America and other nations.

Hunn, who has worked as a consultant for land development projects and political campaigns for the past 20 years, penned a 1989 bill proposing a Soviet-American Peace Corps. Senator Barbara Boxer introduced the bill to the 101st Congress and supported the bill until the Soviet Union started falling apart. “It got buried in the middle of the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the Peace Corps instead went into the Balkanized states,” said Hunn.

In an effort to make his current bill more appealing to those who would potentially be affected, Hunn has also written “World Service Corps Act Two-Year Volunteering — via Volunteering and Using Post Service Educational Enhancements,” which would qualify all World Service Corps volunteers for federal government financing and two years of community college or equivalent vocational training if they chose to continue to volunteer their time in a service program after their first required year. In addition, WSC members would receive stipends equivalent to that presently received by Peace Corps volunteers completing their service.

“As many, including Fed Chair Alan Greenspan in his March 2, 2005, testimony points out, the GI Bill stocked America with a highly skilled and educated workforce, which accounted for much of our nation’s economic strength, diversity, and built its middle class. The minimal additional costs of these educational incentives and the WSC learning experiences will strengthen our economy and people in today’s complex global-village economic era,” said Hunn.

Hunn believes a million young people reaching out to other countries would calm tensions and enhance prospects for world peace by promoting understanding, addressing human resource-and-development needs, and providing help in responding to disasters. “It will help instill a sense of community, service, and teamwork that will make the world and America safer, saner, and smarter,” writes Hunn.

Hunn’s proposals have gotten Representative Lynn Woosley’s attention, and following a meeting last week, Woosley as agreed to take Hunn’s draft back to Washington, D.C., with her.

“She said the idea was right up her alley and the kind of progressive thing she wants to do,” said Hunn, who has sent the bill along with personal letters to 10 Democrats and 10 Republicans in the House.

“Woolsey felt none of the House Republicans would introduce it, but that we might have a chance in the Senate,” said Hunn.

Hunn’s vision is inspired by Robert F. Kennedy’s dream to send a million people into the Peace Corps and his own experience as a Peace Corps volunteer in the slums of Bombay in the late ’60s. “The Peace Corps was probably the most formative experience in my life,” said Hunn. “The best way to get an education is to travel and get a taste of the world. My experience was probably better than any college or graduate school I ever went to.”

Hunn says that if the U.S had followed Kennedy’s vision, 34 million Peace Corps volunteers would have made ties around the world and completed their service. He believes if that were the case, the 9/11 attack on the U.S. would have never happened.

Hunn contends programs would also benefit relations between Americans by allowing the “Joe Six-packs” from Ohio and “Tommy Tiburons” to get to know one another and break down social barriers.

“Everyone thinks of us as ugly Americans. And American polices are generally disliked. It’s only a short step away from disliking Americans altogether,” said Hunn. “The WSC gives us and the world a cost-effective, long-term strategy to combat fundamental ignorance, calamities, terror, and domestic and international poverty.

For more information on the bill, or to sign an online petition to encourage Congress to co-sponsor and support the WSC legislation, visit http://www.dwaynehunn.biz.

Corrections to this Marinscope report, as of 4-6-05:

Two years of service will qualify volunteers for the federal government financing two years of community college or equivalent vocational training; (Community college two-year public tuition and fees in 2004 averaged $2,076 per year. Source American Association of Community Colleges) and two years of state college (Four-year public tuition and fees in 2004 averaged $5132 per year. Source The College Board), or vocational or graduate school financial aid equivalent. In addition, WS corps members completing their service will receive a stipend equivalent to that presently received by Peace Corps volunteers completing their service.