South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg has received months of breathless media interest thanks to his Ivy League credentials, impressive command of Norwegian, and exquisite taste in middlebrow consumer goods. His latest headlines, at least, do actually owe to a major policy initiative — though unfortunately it’s a wrongheaded one.

Entitled “A New Call to Service,” Buttigieg’s latest plan would immediately increase the number of available national service positions by almost 200,000, with the ultimate goal of creating “a pathway towards a universal, national expectation of service for all 4 million high school graduates every year.” While it’s not entirely clear how the program would work, those who participate would receive “consideration for public service student debt forgiveness, vocational training, and hiring preference.”

More revealing than the proposal itself, however, is its overall justification.