The Leftist Case for National Service (Ft. Harper O’Connor)

2026-01-16

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Get access to The Backroom (90+ exclusive episodes) on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/OneDimeIn this episode of 1Dime Radio, I sit down with Harper O’Connor, a rising Socialist YouTuber and DSA organizer, to make the socialist case for National Service and how the millitary can be transformed and used to solve climate change. This ain’t just a case for millitary conscription or to bring back the millitary draft per se, but rather for a broader, socialist vision of National Service. This includes the idea of a Civilian Climate Corps and...

Get access to The Backroom (90+ exclusive episodes) on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/OneDime

In this episode of 1Dime Radio, I sit down with Harper O’Connor, a rising Socialist YouTuber and DSA organizer, to make the socialist case for National Service and how the millitary can be transformed and used to solve climate change. This ain’t just a case for millitary conscription or to bring back the millitary draft per se, but rather for a broader, socialist vision of National Service. This includes the idea of a Civilian Climate Corps and broader service programs that could rebuild state capacity, civic trust, shared purpose, and the social fabric that atomized capitalism keeps dissolving.

In the Backroom Exclusive podcast on Patreon, Harper and I talk about how the Left lost younger men, why the far right is winning the “spiritual crisis,” and what a left-wing alternative could be, and we talk socialist strategy more broadly.

Timestamps:

00:00:00 Why the Left Lost Young Men (The Backroom Preview)

00:06:03 The Civilian Climate Corps

00:11:41 Were not in Kansas anymore: Harper's Political Journey

00:16:51 The Citizen Army Idea: A Socialist Republican Idea

00:22:03 What if Everyone Joined the Military?

00:27:34 Belonging, Comradery, and Solidarity

00:33:17 Build Stuff, Save Lives, Learn Life Skills, Make Friends

00:37:06 Conscription Makes it Harder to Go to War

00:44:20 “Isn’t This Just Legitimizing Empire?”

00:49:22 Civic Duty, Coercion, and Collectivism

00:57:10 The Masculinity Crisis