Volunteerism is on the rise in the United States, as reported by the National Service Corporation. That’s not the good news one might think. For while many types of community and educational service is on the rise, civic involvement went from an already low 13% in 1989 to just over 6% recently.
In other words, people are seeking to help others in need in greater numbers while declining to roll up their sleeves and work with others to make their local communities better. Volunteerism can increase because of bigger hearts, or because of greater disparities. Perhaps the former is true, but the latter has been on the rise for the past 40 years. This is symptomatic of a top-down, centralized society as a whole.
Don’t get me wrong, we have a responsibility to help those in need, for reasons best dealt with in another post. Yet pause for a second to consider what constitutes a better society: One in which people are ready to provide charity and service for the less fortunate? Or a society in which there are no “less fortunate” because people live according to merit, wisdom and harmony rather than greed, efficiency and idolatry?
I am not walking across the country to promote volunteerism in general, but specifically to address our disdain for civic involvement.
