Dear Editor,
The Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education (GIVE) Act, also known as HR 1388, and Senate version Vote #108 (Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Motion to Proceed to H.R. 1388) is unconstitutional on its face!
Alex Epstein, wrote in Capitalism Magazine “America was founded on the principle of individualism: the idea that each individual is a sovereign being with the moral right to his own life and to the achievement of his own goals. This is the basis of the political idea, enshrined in our Declaration of Independence, that the individual possesses inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The Founders accordingly reconceived the purpose of government as being the servant of the individual, rather than his master … This collectivist belief in the supremacy of the group over the individual is the foundation of the national-service ideology, which regards the individual as a servant to the nation. The notion that people are ‘nothing without the group’ and owe their lives – or any portion of them – to the state is antithetical to American individualism and freedom.”
The 13th Amendment prohibits “involuntary servitude.” Ilya Somin, a law professor at George Mason University, thinks so. “I think that the answer is pretty clearly ‘yes,’ at least if you take the text of the Constitution seriously … Note that the Amendment forbids not only ‘slavery’ but also ‘involuntary servitude,’ a provision deliberately inserted to prevent state governments from, in effect, re-enslaving of blacks by imposing ‘temporary’ forced labor systems. Mandatory national service, which would require young people to do government-mandated work … is clearly involuntary servitude under any reasonable definition of the word.”
-Michael Donihe

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