this is actually less bad than 90% of the National Service takes (not a high bar) because it merely proposes a massive expansion in AmeriCorps rather than some semi-coercive mechanism. That said David is still right https://twitter.com/dburbach/status/1358807803364786177

there really is very little systematic evidence that simply putting people into a regimented government-administered social structure creates national unity. if that were the case, then almost all authoritarian regimes and postcolonial states since the early 20th century wd be

massive successes because of their ability to tap human potential for enormous public work programs led by legions of civilians in military-style or paramilitary-esque party organizations dutifully Building The Nation (TM)

a movie like JoJo Rabbit is a satirical look at what things like the Deutsches Jungvolk were actually like, and its alternatively farcial and horrifying

You don't need to go Literally Hitler (TM) to see how many of these organizations ended up being massive public wastes and either were unable to halt or even accelerated the internal divisions of the states that used them

at best many of these entities are most effective when there is some kind of broad consensus over the National Idea that can be used as a springboard. they end up being the most harmful when there isn't.

which partly explains the attraction of many modernizing states to Big Party Work systems: they look equally good regardless of the situation. When things are going well you see an easy way to accelerate the gains. When they are going poorly, it looks like an deceptively easy fix

for America I think @Scholars_Stage is correct that a more plausible alternative is public associations. the issue is what policy levers can encourage their formation on the local level https://scholars-stage.blogspot.com/2020/06/on-cultures-that-build.html