Etzioni's idea for a White House Council for Social Advisers (CSA)

Stayed up all night to be sure I'd be awake for my interview this am. Thought I'd make a mini to relax but here I am. Found this post Etzioni made in Jan 2009 about the visions for a White House Council for Social Advisors.

Etzioni was on the Americorps Lauch Committee in 1994. He was on the Launch Committees for Citizen's for Service and Character Education in the early 90s. He was a Member of the Special Committee on Lawyering in the 21st Century, American Association of Law Schools in 1989. He was a Member of the Research Advisory Committee of Resources for the Future from 1976-1980. He was a Member of the Administrative Board, Research Institute on Communist Affairs, Columbia University 1970-1974... ? Anyone who thinks Etzioni's influence is minimal needs to read his bio at Sourcewatch, just for starters. Still don't understand why they begin his Affiliations in 1958; his political carreer began 15 years before that. http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Amitai_Etzioni

Etzioni wanted his council to advise the President on ALL matters of social policy, in order to strengthen the Third Sector. Did he succeed? His 2001 views on mandatory vaccinations were recently posted here.

2. Our version of a CSA

We envision the goal of the CSA as to advise the President on all matters of social policy other than those concerning economics or security. These include policies that strengthen the third sector, especially the country’s hundreds of thousands of voluntary associations and civic bodies; that encourage faith based work within the confines of the 1st Amendment; that promote the fulfillment of civic duty via agencies such as the Peace Corps, Vista, AmeriCorps, the Teacher Corps, and the Citizen Corps; promote understanding and dialogue among social groups that differ in their social backgrounds, identities, and beliefs (including racial, ethnic, and sexual orientation); promote assimilation of new immigrants while assisting them in maintaining their sub-cultural heritages (i.e., promoting diversity within unity); promote community organizations; promote dialogues about our responsibilities to one another, to the nation, and to the inchoate global community.

The CSA will be composed of social scientists who have shown a capacity to develop public policies. It could incorporate several existing bodies such as the White House Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives.

To measure and call attention to the social state of union, the CSA would publish an annual report on various social indicators such as the number of Americans who served as voluntary firefighters, emergency medical technicians, or in other forms of volunteerism; the amount of funds raised for social purposes by various foundations and charities; and the number of hate crimes committed, among others, along the lines of the Mondale proposal.

For more information, contact Amitai Etzioni at etzioni@gwu.edu or (202) 994-8190.

Posted at 05:03 PM | Permalink

This is CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE AGE OF OBAMA: http://civilsocietyintheageofobama.blogspot.com/

Obama's call to communitarian service

My interview with George Butler last night was live from College station, Texas, where Obama and Bush are hosting this forum today. He's a lovely man and for some reason his efforts give me hope. But wow, I still find it hard to believe that Americans don't know what Americorps is or where it originated. It's almost mind blowing to know that patriotic Texas and all the Christians down there support such obvious occultism. The Points of Light Foundation came up in my research very early on, and I had no problem finding the background for this idea is a theosophical vision. I included the link at the ACL on our What the Communitarians Stand For page. How insulting to all the good people of Texas who put their faith and trust in Bush Sr. I'm sure it's extremely confusing for them now that Bush/Obama are leading them into their globalist New Age nightmare. Is everyone that blinded by the word "community?"

Do not confuse the "call to service" with authentic charity that comes from your heart. This call is to serve the STATE as if it is our NEW GOD. I refuse to serve the communitarian God because, as a natural born American, I am free to seek my own path to Heaven. Maybe that commandment about putting "no other Gods before me" is worthy of Christian consideration:

Obama and elder Bush team up on call to service

By EILEEN SULLIVAN
Associated Press Writer

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- President Barack Obama, who has called on Americans to perform more community service, is joining former President George H.W. Bush in urging citizens to volunteer.

Bush on Friday was to host a forum on volunteering at Texas A&M University, to be attended by Obama, who initiated a "United We Serve" call to service in June that culminated in a national day of service on the eighth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The forum is affiliated with the Points of Light Institute, an organization that honors people and groups who participate in community service. Bush created the Daily Point of Light Award in 1989 to honor volunteers. The forum will be held at the A&M campus at College Station, Texas, where Bush's presidential library is located. It was expected to draw students, faculty and Points of Light award winners. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, a former president of the university, was planning to attend as well.

As a candidate, Obama promised to make a call to public service a cornerstone of his presidency.

On the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday this year, on Jan. 19, the day before Obama's inauguration, the president-elect, Hollywood stars and thousands of other Americans volunteered across the country.

In April, Obama signed into law the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, which tripled the size of the AmeriCorps community service program.

And in late June, when Obama kicked off the call to service program, he and his family worked with other volunteers at Fort McNair in Washington and helped load 15,000 backpacks with books, healthy snacks and toys for children with parents in the armed forces.