We need a robust AWSC to tackle today's BIG PROBLEMS. This is the first of eight OpEds, which comprises the sections in People's Lobby's American World Service Corps (AWSC) Report recently submitted to the new administration. Congresswoman Woolsey has offered to introduce the AWSC Congressional Proposals in the 111th Congress, and we need your help in gaining strong bipartisan cosponsors to lead the AWSC to passage.

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                                    "Yes, the AWSC can"-

"-Robustly address the myriad of big problems facing us, especially in depressing economic times

When written in Chinese the word "crisis" is composed of two characters-- one represents danger and the other represents opportunity. 

                                      John F. Kennedy,  12 April 1959 

Yes, we can do much better than we have done over the last couple of generations--and especially over the last eight years.  But we won't if high percentages of Americans continue to rely on slogans, bumper stickers, and raving pundits whose real-life experiences avoid the actions, passions, and struggles of most hard-working humans.

 

· In the 21 nations that make up the Middle East, South and East Africa, and Indonesia, about 910 million mostly Muslims reside.  Poverty, cultural tensions, anger, and antipathy toward America have spread in much of these lands.  Terrorists convert heart and minds there.  In the meantime, annually we have had about 50 Peace Corps volunteers serving among those 910 million.

 

·As 2008 draws to a close, the lives and homes of those devastated by Katrina in 2005 are still broken.  As the American belief that successive American generations would have a better life than those preceding it dwindles, our laws aim to provide corporate bailouts to those whose comforts, greed, and power contributed to our economic tailspin.  Too many large corporations and very rich households have contributed too little to strengthening America's future families.

 

·As wealth and income disparity grows wider and wider in America, about half of those poor families whose children qualify for Head Start have no programs in their communities, because we do not have enough Head Start teachers or volunteers to provide them race-evening early opportunities.

 

· While Al Gore gathers 10,000 PowerPoint Presenters to begin educating the comfortably unaware about the catastrophes of rapidly advancing global climate change, we have too few Americans working on energy retrofits, spreading appropriate technologies, and building recycling programs for energy reuse.

 

·As health care costs skyrocket and nurses are increasingly asked to do more and more for less, where are the candy stripers, the reinforcements of previous generations who would help nurses and patients?

 

· While we have about 170 military bases around the world and deploy 1.4 million active military personnel, we have less than 8000 Peace Corps volunteers in the field in about 60 countries.  In an age of terrifying weapons of mass destruction, peace, security, and development will not be done by the biggest, baddest guns but by those who fielded teams that win hearts and minds.

 

· As a surge of our post-911 Afghan and Iraqi-stationed soldiers begins returning from their four-year military contracts, we have not provided the tools or living facilities that can effectively reduce the tsunami of posttraumatic stress disorders our soldiers are beginning to bring home.

 

· Fewer and fewer American schools teach civics, involve their students in community service, provide one-on-one assistance to troubled students, or inspire students to make their lives productive for themselves as well as the world.  There is so much to learn that even well paid teachers could use full time volunteers in their classrooms to help their students grow and learn.

 

· Those who see no benefit in educating Americans to depressing world needs increasingly control our major media.  Consequently, our public policies too often exacerbate the world's needs.  Al Jazeera News shows our public policy mistakes and raises their viewers' ire.  Our major news outlets dwell on the private policy problems of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton and leads Americans to forget life's important essentials.

 

The key AWSC proposed bills correct these bullet pointed problems.  The key proposal can be read at

http://www.worldservicecorps.us/world%20service%20key%20proposal%202yr%20volunteer.htm

  

 

"As Jack (Kennedy) liked to say, he'd rather send in the Peace Corps than the Marine Corps, and Sarge (Shriver) was his Peace Corps commandant who always got the job done, establishing new beachheads of hope and opportunity in lands that had never known them before.  LBJ respected Sarge so much that he gave him a second hat to wear, and Sarge was equally brilliant in launching the Office of Economic Opportunity as the heart of our War on Poverty."-           

KENNEDY LIBRARY FORUMS, "A TRIBUTE TO SARGENT SHRIVER"- 12/12/05    

Authors Website: http://peopleslobby.us/

Authors Bio:

Dwayne served in the Peace Corps in the slums of Mumbai, India, worked several Habitat Projects, and was on the start-up team of the California Conservation Corps. He has a Ph.D. from Claremont Graduate University, has been a builder, teacher, political organizer, small businessman, affordable housing developer, and a rock-piler at Rubel's Castle. Some pics and stories at http://peopleslobby.us/more-projects/rubelia.

Some story tidbits about his recent well-regarded book about Rubel's Castle are available at http://peopleslobby.us/more-projects/rubelia.

In 2013 Rubelia was designated a National Historic Monument, right up there with Hearst Castle. CBS clip: Rubel's Castle is on verge of listing on National Registry http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2013/08/07/rubel-castle-in-glendora-on-the-verge-of-getting-national-historic-recognition/

Dwayne is presently Executive Director of People's Lobby Inc (PLI, 501c4)and People's Lobby's Education Foundation (PLEF, 501c3). You can read PLI's American World Service Corps Congressional Proposal (AWSC) at
http://peopleslobby.us/awsc-congressional-proposal

Rebuilding People'Lobby web site is available at http://peopleslobby.us/

Congresswoman Woolsey (D, CA) offered to introduce it in the 111th Congress, then retracted. Please contact your Congressional reps and ask them to become an original sponsor or cosponsor. The AWSC citizen-initiated congressional proposals could be, with you pushing your representatives, among the most significant legislation passed and implemented in decades. Imagine having 21 million Americans cost effectively doing good at home or abroad over the next 27 years.

In December 2009 Ralph Nader choose People's Lobby's book, "Ordinary People Doing the Extraordinary, The Story of Ed & Joyce Koupal's People's Lobby" as one of the Ten Best Books to Read for 2009. You can purchase the book from PeoplesLobby.us or learn more at http://peopleslobby.us/more-projects/books.

"This country runs on laws. If you want to change the country, write its laws," People's Lobby's founders Ed and Joyce Koupal used to say. If you want to enlighten public policy, involve millions of Americans in addressing public needs, prepare for climate weirding, etc., help make it happen. The AWSC addresses with people action many of our most pressing and costly needs. To sign the reopened American World Service Corps petition/letter, which contacts Congress for you: Paste http://www.change.org/petitions/view/field_21_million_american_world_service_corps_volunteers_over_the_next_27_years
Please help make the AWSC happen. To learn more about People's Lobby, visit the web site at www.Peopleslobby.us.

Recent books both available on line and from publishers: Every Town Needs a Castle (Prelude to next book, Every Country Needs a World Service Corps)
http://peopleslobby.us/more-projects/rubelia


Ordinary People Doing the Extraordinary (Nader's 2009 TopTen Books to Read List)
http://peopleslobby.us/archives/736
Library: http://peopleslobby.us/organizations/peoples-lobby/library