U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi
Scott Galloway
A transfer of wealth from young to old, a flawed education system and polarizing technology platforms have produced a generation of Americans who no longer believe in America. According to Gallup, 75% of baby boomers feel very or extremely proud to be an American, compared with just 41% of those younger than 30. We are raising the most isolated, anxious and disconnected generation in our history.
The solution is each other.
Just as the World Cup showed millions of visitors how wonderful America can be, a mandatory year of national service would show our own young people the same thing — while equipping them with the civics, skills and on-ramps to the middle class that a fractured education system and a polarized political culture have failed to provide.
Under our proposal, every young American would choose one of three paths: an AmeriCorps-style civilian service, a “skills through service” program or military service.
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As we marked 250 years of American independence, we rightly celebrated the accomplishments and uniqueness of this nation. In that same patriotic spirit, we must confront what is pulling us apart.
Three compounding forces are dividing America, and national service would address all three: isolation, eroding trust in institutions and income inequality.
This generation is lonelier, more anxious and depressed. Young people are not mixing anymore. National service would close that distance by physically bringing young people together, the way it did for the generation that returned from World War II having served alongside Americans of every background, geography and faith and went on to build the American century.
Research shows that intergroup contact promotes national identity. A study of service members in Spain found that being assigned to military service in a different region substantially increases “self-identification as Spanish” and increases the likelihood of voting. Singapore pairs national service with integrated public housing, creating structured contact between groups that a meta-analysis of more than 500 studies shows reliably reduces prejudice.
One of the toughest critiques of service — that it damages mental health — doesn’t hold up. A 2025 study using nationally representative U.S. data found that military service was actually a protective factor against depression once researchers controlled for socioeconomic background. Service builds the very coping skills and sense of purpose that isolation erodes.
Americans have lost faith in their institutions and increasingly channel that disillusionment into contempt for government. National service would reinvigorate civics — not the kind taught from a textbook, but the kind learned shoulder to shoulder with a fellow citizen who likely doesn’t share your ZIP code, income or politics.
Young Americans are being crushed by stagnant wages, soaring costs and a wilting middle class, as the country has presided over an enormous generational transfer of wealth from young to old. Meanwhile, we need millions of new skilled workers.
Much as President Bill Clinton promised “100,000 new police officers,” America now needs 47,600 new welding professionals — annually — to replace retiring or departing workers. For every five welders retiring, only two are entering the field to replace them.
By 2030, over 1 million nurses will retire. We need a fresh generation of electricians, carpenters and teachers to meet the surging demand created by the artificial intelligence buildout and the reshoring of manufacturing.
The “skills through service” path would fast-track the 60% of Americans who don’t graduate college — and many who do — directly into the jobs this economy needs.
Over time, our goal is to build a culture where the default question shifts from “Did you serve?” to “How did you serve?”
If we want our young people to love their country — and each other — the country has to invest in them. That investment pays for itself: National service programs return an estimated $17 for every $1 the federal government spends.
Young Americans are isolated by algorithms and divided by identity politics. Addressing this massive problem will require an equally big but simple idea: common experience. Ask one generation to serve, and the next 250 years have a fighting chance of looking like the best of the last 250.
Suozzi, D-N.Y., is co-chair of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus. Galloway is a professor of marketing at NYU Stern and the author of “Notes on Being a Man." They wrote this for The Chicago Tribune.
