Making a Difference

[Potty Diva]

Should people be required to give back to society, since we take so much? Should we hae a minimum amount of hours or days that are reserved for community involvment?

[JessicaS]

Unless employers are willing to give up a day or so for their employees to perform this community service I don't see how anyone could have time for such a thing.

People in the US work more hours with less vacation than most other countries. My dh works 60+ hours a week and comes home exhausted, I am lucky if I get help around the house I would be pretty annoyed if he was required to devote some of his little free time to community service.

So many people are already struggeling to balance home and work time, unless employers are willing to give a little as well I wouldn't support required community service.

[Super Pickle]

I'm not sure how to interpret the prompt. Who is doing the "taking" from society, and what do you think is being taken?

If you are making an honest living then you are already contributing enormously to our society. If someone else is willing to pay you for doing a job, it must be pretty important to someone. For example, Teresa, you and I both take care of other people's children along with our own. We are simultaneously: 1.) providing for our own families (as opposed to mooching), 2.) nurturing the next generation (a needed service), and 3.) freeing up other parents' time so that they can do other important tasks, such as medical research or delivering babies or devising faster internet connections (which improve the quality of life for everyone).

No, we should not be required to do community service, because honest hardworking families are themselves the greatest asset a community has. However, many people in such families have found that pitching in to do a little extra for others adds even more enrichment to their lives. It's its own reward when done uncompelled.

[merpk]

No, we shouldn't have to.

Though I wish we did. Because then I know I'd definitely find the time to do more. Nothin' like a little government strong-arming to get me motivated ... :LOL

[Potty Diva]

I don't believe we should be forced to do community service, but I do wish more people were compelled to do so, and preferrably with their families.

Super Pickle- We take from the earth every day, and don't always put something back, and that is what I meant.

I have a question about your post... you said:

For example, Teresa, you and I both take care of other people's children along with our own. We are simultaneously: 1.) providing for our own families (as opposed to mooching),

What does this mean?

I am reading it that mamas who do not provide a service or work are mooching from their families?

In the way of contributions I was suggesting, volunteer work, recycling, reforestation projects, etc (earth based work).

[Marlena]

Perhaps we should institute a period of national service following high school, as is presently done in a number of European countries (among others). In the countries of which I'm thinking (Belgium and Germany, for example), the service is usually military, but Germany, at least, allows for civil service if one is opposed to military service. Insituting a similar measure here might help foster a greater sense of national community while also providing needed services to the country and community.

[Super Pickle]

Potty Diva, thanks for the clarification that you're talking about giving back to the earth.
I was in no way saying that moms who don't work are mooching. I was just saying that working families are contributing instead of draining by supporting themselves instead of making a habit of living off the sweat of someone else's brow.

[EnviroBecca]

My cousin's high school requires a certain number of hours of community service each year. I think adolescence is a great time for it, because teens have fewer time commitments than adults, and because habits formed earlier last longer. If I were in charge, I might just require it for every grade level in school. Even kindergarteners can do things like paint barrels for a recycling program!

I would, of course, rather see people VOLUNTEER than have to be forced to do the right thing. We're having a budget crisis in my city right now, and hundreds of city employees have been laid off and many services cut. Everyone's complaining, but they don't want a tax hike. Nobody yet has publicly suggested what seems to me like an obvious solution to this problem: volunteer service! After all, jobs like life-guarding and lawn-mowing easily could be done by volunteers....

[Happypants]

mandatory service has long turned my stomach, so i wouldn't say we should be required to do community service. and coercion doesn't inspire the right mindset, anyway, whether you're talking about serving, learning, working, or whatever.

that said, it would be very nice if volunteering were more acceptable. i agree that lots of people don't have the time for it presently, but the flip side is that many people could work less, survive, and consume fewer resources in the process, and use part of their extra time for service. also, working people could be paid decent wages so they didn't have to work so often, and that would also give people more time to improve their lives and the lives of others.

i would say the majority of human living spaces lack a real sense of community, and working together for the greater good is certainly a way to improve that.

[daylily]

There's a community service requirement at our high school. If you don't fulfill it, you don't graduate.

I think it might be nice if college students were given an opportunity to pay off their student loans by doing community service after graduation. It wouldn't be forced, just an option they could chose.