Ben Gurion -- road to Tel Aviv

Our final touring day and we are driving back to Tel Aviv, stopping along the way to view some final sites. Ben Gurion, Israel's first prime minister, retired after 6 years in office. He chose to join a kibbutz in the Negev in the hopes that he would be setting an example and that others would flock to the desert in southern Israel and revitalize this desert environment. Sadly, few followed him. He chose to be buried in the desert he loved.
Ben Gurion was a visionary, envisioning a country, envisioning the birth of the desert, which is beginning to happen as well.
Coincidentally our brief visit to Ben Gurion's grave site was the same day a group of young soldiers were graduating from boot camp. Upon graduation each gets a rifle and a bible. Here I am talking to the 20 year old commander. She has contempt for the increasing number of Israelis who are opting out of military service by claiming they are religious, or getting married at 18 (and then divorced), or claiming other illnesses that prevent their participation. On the books Israel requires two years of active service from everyone.
The commander we spoke with said that she sees the American young people she meets as being so much younger, and more self-centered than the Israelis who serve and grow up during their two years defending their country. We think that mandatory national service would help our country, stop or at least slow down some of the "all about me" that is so prevalent. Although, in Israel there is now a movement toward "all about me."