EDITORIAL Is new voluntarism for real or for show?
This may go down in history as the year of the volunteer. The
three-day President's Summit for America's Future, launched April 27, marked
the crest of a wave of goodwill aimed at making the nation kinder and gentler.
Choreographed by the august Colin Powell and featuring Bill Clinton and several
former presidents, the Philadelphia voluntarism fest signaled a national wish
to help one another, especially the most needy and vulnerable among us.
Half the Clinton cabinet was there and about 4,000 other notables
from diverse walks of life. There were stirring speeches outlining a more ideal
and caring U.S. future, followed by a succession of photo-ops as the national
leaders donned yellow T-shirts and painted over the abundant graffiti on
Philadelphia's inner-city walls. The media gave the event high-impact and
sympathetic coverage befitting an event that had fused a huge variety of
powerful energies for an obviously good purpose.
A significant aspect of the summit was Powell's mustering of
extensive corporate enthusiasm and participation. The nation's top companies
and organizations vied with each other to donate money, time and talent.
Honeywell Inc. promised 8,000 employees as mentors to grade school kids, 4,000
volunteers to work with Habitat for Humanity and more, to the total tune of $20
million. IBM promised computer equipment over four years for 2,000 daycare and
senior citizen centers, plus IBM volunteers for training, at a total estimated
cost of $10 million. But these are merely highlights amid an outpouring of
national benevolence.
One could easily get the impression that voluntarism was born last
April 27.
On the contrary, one can fairly assume volunteers go back as far
as the race does. The 12 apostles were volunteers and before that the Old
Testament is full of volunteers, as is history. They came in all sizes, but
probably more often small than big. Daily life worked because neighbors or
family members volunteered to go the extra mile, help out. Community members
volunteered for the common good, citizens for the national weal, in peace and
war.
Volunteering became so much a part of our lives together that we
took it for granted. Paradoxically it was often at its best when our lives were
at their worst. The less we had to give of ourselves and our substance, the
more willing (and willing is the root meaning of voluntarism) we were. More
recently, as our substance grew, we have more good times to chase, more good
things to protect and therefore less time for altruism.
Voluntarism was and is humanity at its best. In various ways it
became embodied in our religious traditions. Members of religious orders and
congregations were and are, in their way, professional volunteers. At their
best they are disinterested and expect nothing in return, unless one counts
intangibles such as grace or eternal life.
And, on the purely human level, our civilization has expressed its
voluntarism in a multitude of ways, from Habitat for Humanity to volunteer fire
departments in every little town to running errands for one's elderly
neighbor.
In the self-congratulatory atmosphere of Philadelphia, there was
precious little acknowledgment by our politicians and civic and corporate
leaders of this legacy of volunteering.
If this voluntarism crusade, unapologetically spearheaded by the
rich and powerful, fulfills half its promise, it could help transform the face
of America, even the world. One does not have to be a cynic, however, to be
reminded of the incongruities that abound.
The whole point of this new voluntarism is help of multiple kinds
for the children, the poor, the disadvantaged. But the very people behind this
corporate crusade are the politicians and leaders who, under guise of "welfare
reform," are doing most to deprive the children and welfare mothers, homeless
people and others of the benefits they already receive. The Powell brigade may
say they plan to substitute self-reliance and backbone for previous handouts,
but the issue goes deeper. This Congress, this president, these corporate
leaders are politically bunched so far to the right of center that the liberal
benevolence of which this country was long a shining example seems now an
outmoded sentimentality.
Ever since Ronald Reagan came to power there has been a growing
opposition to the multitude of charitable organizations that have long embodied
the spirit of voluntarism. This opposition is expressed in various ways but
mainly through cutting off government funds.
For example, one might expect politicians who favored voluntarism
to give maximum breaks in mailing costs to nonprofit organizations. On the
contrary, such nonprofit, charitable groups have in recent years been hit --
selectively hit -- by mailing costs much more severely than for-profit -- that
is, business -- organizations.
Since mailings constitute the primary lifeline for fundraising for
nonprofit groups, and since this case has been made abundantly in Washington
over the years, it doesn't take a four-star general to see that the enthusiasm
for voluntarism is selective.
This may derive from the fact that traditional nonprofit groups
have constantly been critical of the de facto uneven distribution of the
nation's wealth among its citizens.
Over against the notables who flew into Philadelphia April 27
stands a whole culture of professional and voluntary helpers. They are people
who know the inner city and other places of poverty, who deal each day with the
drug addicts and crazy people as well as the average poor or lonely. They are a
special breed, the caring professionals and do-gooders, indefatigable and
cheerful and street wise -- and many of them are saying that the Clinton/Powell
extravaganza is a stunt.
The country is, after all, doing great. Wall Street going through
the roof. Unemployment almost a memory. Corporations making so much money they
scarcely know what to do with it.
Colin Powell to the rescue. Sure, welfare reform was necessary --
all that money wasted, not like the money spent, say, on the Pentagon. Despite
the good times, darn it, there still are kids with no health care and other
disadvantages. This is no time to appear harsh or cheap.
CEOs to the rescue. Time (April 28), as reliable a
chronicler of the popular ethos as any other, says Apple Computer's CEO made
$22,874,580 last year; Green Tree Financial Corp.'s CEO took in $137,228,766;
Disney's head was compensated to the tune of $204,233,281. A few pages earlier,
Time listed some of the really big corporate volunteer boosters:
Honeywell, Kimberly-Clark, LensCrafters and so on. Publicity one could scarcely
buy for love or money. Well, maybe for love.
Maybe this is a bad rap and all the volunteermeisters will keep
their promises and help transform inner cities and impoverished lives. For love
or whatever. Maybe put all the Catholic Worker soup kitchens and free clinics
and their like out of business.
If so, NCR will be first to nominate Colin Powell for king.
Or pope.
Meanwhile, Catholic Workers and all of that ilk: Hang in
there.
National Catholic Reporter, May 16,
1997
|