Civic duty must extend to government

Civic duty" brings to mind those Boy Scout knot-tying days. But all the achievement patches you can earn won't turn minimum wage into a living wage. A plush 43 percent of the proposed tax cut goes to the richest 1 percent of the nation. \nA repeal of the estate tax benefits mostly millionaires. President George W. Bush's advisers admit higher-income Americans will save the most. But Secretary of State Colin Powell, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and Bush offer renewed civic volunteerism as the cure to the unbalance. \nThe term "civics" has a 1950s hollowness to it, evoking starched gender roles, excessive back-patting and school children learning about their country's perfection. But Bush's inaugural speech called for more volunteerism and community service, essentially more civic involvement. \nBy itself, this is certainly noble. When combined with a millionaire-friendly tax cut, it's the compassionate way of saying: "Poor folks, you're on your own. Oh, by the way, because of the tax cut, you can buy one extra can of Coke a day."\nScalia encouraged civic renewal recently at a dinner honoring the 200th anniversary of Virginian John Marshall's appointment as chief justice. He called on all Americans to unshackle themselves from their beepers and coach a Little League team. That's all a single mother working two jobs to stay above the poverty line really wants after all -- a businessman in patent leather loafers to coach her kid's Little League team. \nSuch "civics" is something the privileged do, not something they make a part of themselves. To integrate "civics" with personal and community identity, we must admit that ladling soup in a community kitchen or coaching a Little League team is definitely good, but not good enough, especially in place of governmental support.\nScalia, grandiose and vague, said, "We have many responsibilities before the job. We have many responsibilities to community, to state ... one who is not doing these is not being a full participant." Lawyers, government officials and business leaders who are too absorbed in work miss participating in civic life, he said. \nHis idea of a true "participant" is someone who can simultaneously congratulate himself for volunteering and wash off the grime of being near poor people. He then promptly gets back to the business of being a rich guy. \nCivic outreach programs "are not being run by lawyers," Scalia said. All right, there's no denying that. "They're too busy putting in their 25-hour days," he said. What? So the do-gooder instinct to help the poor isn't driving the wealthy to volunteer? Listen guys, with a huge new tax-break, you can reduce your office time and still buy that new Land Cruiser for your teenage son! Now, get out there and look civic. \nHow's that for some wholesome civic stirrings? At Scalia's command, lawyers everywhere are animated with altruism. Consider America renewed.\n"I'm afraid we've lost the knowledge Marshall had," Scalia said after highlighting Marshall's devotion to various social and civic organizations. Yes, I am afraid we have, so why force the poor to rely on its lost existence? Or perhaps verbal encouragement at inaugural speeches and anniversary dinners are enough to change America's non-civic ways. \nSurprisingly, though, America does volunteer. Half of all Americans have volunteered in the past year, and about a quarter of them volunteer on a regular basis, a study by the Campaign Study Group found. These volunteers might find themselves taxed in the future, and not monetarily, as they realize a greater responsibility rests with them. This recent buzz of "civic duty" is not new.\nRobert F. Kennedy was a passionate advocate of grassroots community activism. He believed religious organizations and private citizens alike should take community issues into their own hands. But he realized that each outreach group was part of a greater web, affected by national institutions. RFK provided a critical core of national policies and funding to ensure private action was connected to something tangible.\nBut while corporate lawyers, business people and White House aides evolve into civic organisms, a process that might take years, the poor can weather the effects of a Spartan budget and slowing economy, waiting for their would-be heroes to phase out their 25-hour workdays. \nThe new administration is acknowledging the need for community empowerment. "Civics responsibility" is a welcome addition to current vocabularies. Now put some of that "civics" back in the budget.