Universal community service could become a reality if we start with Citizen Dividends. In return for the basic income, we might ask everyone to contribute 8 hours a month to their communities. Everyone could afford to serve, and would be rewarded for serving. Each of us, all of us, would have monthly reminders that we’re all in this together, part of the community, as equals.

That reciprocity, unversal community service, is one addition to the guaranteed basic income that I proposed in my book, Peaceful, Positive Revolution: Economic Security for Every American.

These thoughts are inspired by President Obama signing a law yesterday that greatly increased funding for Americorps and other service programs. With him at the signing were Bill Clinton and Senator Ted Kennedy. Obama and Clinton then went to a nearby park and planted some trees.

“We need your service right now, at this moment in history,” Mr. Obama told an audience at the Seed School of Washington. “I’m not going to tell you what your role should be. That’s for you to discover. But I’m asking you to stand up and play your part. I’m asking you to help change history’s course.”

Republicans typically favor strictly voluntary service. George W. Bush affirmed that on many occasions, Colin Powell is renowned for advocating community service, and George H. W. Bush famously talked about people who serve as “a thousand points of light.”

We can have truly voluntary service that is also universal, because Citizen Dividends would ensure that everyone can afford to serve. With Citizen Dividends, moreover, because everyone would be receiving an equal amount, there would be real, positive social pressure on everyone to reciprocate and serve. No need for a government bureaucracy to monitor and enforce our service.

Steven Shafarman