Many countries in the world have mandatory service to their countries whereas the US does not have anything that requires young individuals to serve their country in some fashion. I believe this would be a benefit to the nation and strengthen national pride in the US. I would like to see a policy that makes public service mandatory for all people 18 years of age. I would suggest a minimum of two years and it can go up from there depending on the policy. This service does not necessarily need to be military, but it would be a public service to the government or the local government in some way. Examples being active military, national guard (extended years due to weekend drills) police, fire department, EMT, Libraries, education, transportation ect. These would be paid positions and would be approved at the state and local level for approval, but would need to follow some guidelines in that the job positions directly serve the community and/or government in some fashion.
I also would like to propose a policy that those who serve our country, military, police, fire, EMT ect. and who have given a significant portion of their lives to these profession and careers and have placed themselves selflessly in harm’s way over their career and who have retired from these identified professions, receive due compensation for their service. Along with a retirement pension that comes with retirement, these individuals have given to this country in numerous ways, the US should give back to them in the form of no taxes for life. Their service to this country cannot be measured monetarily but the least the country can do is give back to them in a way they gave to the country. Along with no taxes, their service should be recognized nationwide. I have a retired military ID card with military benefits that come with it, but retired police, fire, EMT ect do not have additional benefits that come with a retirement pension such as a military ID card with added benefits. A retired ID card from above-mentioned careers is one thing to recognize these individuals but also giving them benefits across the country in some manner that military retirees receive. This does not have to mimic military retirement but retiring from these high stress sometime dangerous careers deserve some national recognition and benefits.