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Preview to:
Why Can’t We All Just Get Along?
by Steve McCurley and Susan
J. Ellis
Steve and Susan react to recent news
stories and observations that perpetuate some frustrating thinking about
volunteers. Volunteering is either undervalued or over-valued, elevated
to selfless sainthood or seen as a means to the end of teaching the middle
class to love others. Some excerpts from this essay:
From Steve:
…Now I suspect that Mr. Roy came to his conclusion following
a great deal more thinking that Mr. Sanders brought to his, but I’m
not sure that his conclusion is any more rational. Each distorts a
realistic look at volunteering, one by undervaluing it and the other
by over-valuing it. Each seems struck in the interesting mindset that
what a person does can only be valued by what they are paid to do it.
People who have this mindset have a hard time thinking reasonably about
volunteering, and they generally end up either putting it on a pedestal
or else treating it like a momentary aberration of the slightly deranged – one
that should be tactfully ignored in a politely capitalistic society.
From Susan:
I realize that I am now in danger of alienating some readers, but
I honestly have never understood the goal of selflessness. It makes
me wonder:
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Given the conscious intention to be selfless, isn’t
there the danger of selfishly using the person in need for the
volunteer to feel spiritually holy? Thereby ending up as the
opposite?
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Why is it necessary to “leave one’s ego at the door” in
order to serve? Isn’t it more genuine to bring yourself
fully into the relationship with the person to be served? To
share your skills and talents generously?
Steve and Susan then start a list of Suggested Universal Principles
of Volunteering, to which readers can feel free to add their own
Pet Peeves.
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