Volunteerism Effects Entire Community
Why Volunteer? There are the usual answers to this question such as, "to give back to the community" or "because I care about this community" or "I feel good when I volunteer". These are all good and important reasons for volunteering, but I want to go a little deeper to get at some of the basic reasons why volunteering is so important. We often take for granted the societal context that allows us to live the rich lives we have. Unfortunately, lately too much wealth is being earned by fewer and fewer people. Leaving only - the few ext
Balanced distribution of wealth in a community is a sign of a healthy community. When wealth pools, the community begins to stagnate and personal self interest establishes itself as a norm. A rich civic life, layer and layers of citizen involvement in everything from choral societies, soccer clubs, service associations and non governmental organizations is the vehicle that ensures equity and balance in society. Volunteering or being involved in your community is a solution to inactive distribution of wealth and opportunity in our communities. A vibrant civic life, that is, where all citizens are notably concerned and involved in the livelihood of their community is the basis for a healthy economy. Volunteering or being engaged in the civic life of our community is the basis from which we can build the kind of lives, communities and societies we want. In other words, a strong civic life equals strong economy. The realization that the whole is more essential than the individual holds more weight. When we trust one another we are less inclined to want wealth for our own benefit and recognize that wealth is actually created because of the existence of a trusting social context. Why volunteer? Volunteering provides us with opportunities to build ties with people we would normally not connect with and with that is opportunity to create a deeper sense of shared trust in community. Wealth is generated and circulates because of a healthy vital community. Most interestingly, it is not the economy that creates community vitality; in fact it is the reverse.
Common topics in this essay:
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civic life,
reasons volunteering,
distribution wealth,
community basis,
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Acceptance Essays
