I don't think finding the need is the problem. Between the military, education, foreign service, community development, the Peace Corps, the Americorps, there's plenty of need. Hell, there's a mid-sized city in Michigan that hasn't had drinking water in a couple of years. Government services are backlogged, the VA has ridiculous wait times. There's plenty to be done. And there's also plenty of money. We've spent 2.4 trillion dollars on the war in Afghanistan, after all. We just gave farmers $28 billion dollars to counteract bad policy. We could start by, you know, not doing those sorts of things. Might create some room for a much larger civil service.

But culturally it's a non-starter, I agree. Largely because too many people have become defenders of a status quo that insists big changes are impossible.

I guess I should have been clearer.
Its not an issue of not having needs these kids can fill.

Its a matter of skills.

Its not like WWII where you need a lot of infantry.
Or the WPA where you hand a guy a shovel.

Training someone to work in something like the Peace Corps or as a teacher's aide,may be possible.

But military training takes time.
Same with working in construction.

In some cases,by the time you train someone to do a job,their service time is up.

I also don't think construction unions are going to in favor of giving up major construction projects.

Having gone through the Peace Corps process, they don't want fresh HS graduates unless you have a rare, developed skill. You need to be able to offer them something. They don't really train other than the local language.