August 1962 — VOL. 43, NO. 8 — The Volunteer in
Our Society
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Civilization apparently is of such a nature
that the further we progress in it the more difficult we find
it to live together.
We are beginning to think about how poor a place earth would
be if the mechanization of living were to deprive us of the
contacts we gain in voluntary association with our neighbours.
Major—General Georges P. Vanier, Governor General of
Canada, said to a Canadian Welfare Council conference of community
leaders from across Canada early in 1962: "as our society
grows ever more and more complicated and more personal, the
need for voluntary work becomes daily greater, for it is essential
that there be preserved a balance between complexity and conscience."
One does not need to have a romantically heightened view
of giving oneself away, but only to remember that the contribution
made by individuals and groups voluntarily is the real foundation
of democratic society, and that it is one of the ways in which,
in spite of mechanization and automation, we remain human.
"Society", as it is used in this Letter, is the kind
of life we live in organized communities, where interests
and purposes are common to all. A "social" person does not
mean one who enjoys parties, but, as Dr. Samuel Johnson defined
"social" in his dictionary of 1755: a person "fit for society."
Besides social, there are personal values in voluntary service.
The volunteer realizes the quality of experience that can
be his through sharing viewpoints and working with others
in pursuit of both individual and common goals.
The "why" of working with others is not greatly important.
The Talmudic principle is: "A man should perform a righteous
deed, even if he does so only for ulterior motives, because
he will thus learn to do the right for its own sake."
You may wish for a sense of accomplishment, for the adventure
of something new, for a change of pace from the workaday world,
for self—expression, or only to belong. There is no better
way to banish the blues or to counteract the poison of world
crises than by engaging in thoughtful work with and for others.
The end result is self—fulfilment, which is on a higher
plane than self—interest.
There is no stereotyped way of being altruistic. Every man
in a free society can help in his individual way to shape
it; that is what sets him apart from those in a slave society.
He has ideas, opinions, interests and abilities to contribute.
Giving service, and not putting on a show, is the distinguishing
feature of the good member of society. Charles Dickens gave
us a portrait of the poseur in Little Dorrit: Mr. Casby,
the bold expanse of whose patriarchal countenance was so valuable
to himself and so disappointing to everybody else. He seemed
brimful of benevolence if only one could lay hold of it.
It is through action that we become part of the setting
around us and participate in the transaction of living. If
we wish to develop into fully participating human beings we
can do so by locating a social need and offering the help
it is in our power to give. "According to one's power" was
a favourite saying of Socrates, and it is a saying of great
substance. Longfellow put it this way: "Give what you have.
To someone, it may be better than you dare to think."
The nature of society
Students of anthropology and archaeology have reason for
amazement when they consider the brief interval, scarcely
a moment of the time this earth has been in existence, in
which humanity has built up its present society and civilization.
Social service, in its broad sense as genuine interest in
the welfare of others, is as old as the beginning of that
civilization, but perhaps it is time for a restatement of
our purpose.
In days when we are so concerned with defence, we need to
ask ourselves what we are defending. It is not enough to be
satisfied with expansive theories of universal peace. They
may be proclaimed and paraded without any sacrifice of time
or effort. What we must have is concrete illustration of our
interest in survival of our society, both what we receive
from it and the privilege of contributing to it. As was written
in the Report of the Royal Commission on National Development
in the Arts, Letters and Sciences: "It would be paradoxical
to defend something which we are unwilling to strengthen and
enrich, and which we even allow to decline."
This is not a matter merely of broad interest: the interest
is that of every one individually. In the long run and in
the last resort self—interest cannot be separated from
the interests of the rest of the community.
By helping a class of need, whether it be in the field of
destitution or culture, of delinquency or health, the voluntary
worker is promoting and protecting the welfare of all the
community.
The self—sufficing ingrown man has no validity in modern
civilization. It is fundamental in democracy that citizens
do not have to agree, but they must take part. No one is solitary
in his origin or solitary in his existence.
Just what sort of groups and social institutions will serve
as the vehicles for our participation depends upon the cultural
conditions involved in our life history and upon the opportunities
we seize upon in our life environment. He is wise who tries
to act in a number of different capacities. The men whose
names shine brightly in history were versatile, and the stories
of their lives tell us how greatly they enjoyed living.
An expanding life
Voluntary work is the source of expansion of our lives.
It is characteristic of human beings to seek to extend the
range of the setting in which they can carry on their lives
effectively.
Whatever we possess in the way of skill, property and joy
is enhanced, often without limit, by sharing it with others.
Our richest experiences come when we are acting with other
people to achieve some common goal. And survival itself depends
upon our co—operation with other organisms like ourselves.
If the world seems tame and dull, candor compels us to confess
that it is because we are so wrapped up in our own narrow
interests that we resist it when other people try to take
us into their lives. The instruction to the unhappy rich young
man "sell whatsoever thou hast and give to the poor" was not
directed toward the welfare of the poor but to the soul of
the young man.
The high tide of civilization is heralded by the conscious
and rational co—operation of individuals. Only as we
shoulder our share of responsibility for planning, for goal—setting,
and for working, do we learn the great satisfaction to be
had out of directed constructive activity in a world which
seems to be filled with chaotic mismanagement.
Men and women have within them truths to communicate, skills
to contribute, songs to sing, which demand expression. When
their contribution fills a need in someone's life, even for
a fleeting minute, it adds to the world's happiness. We must
major in the areas wherein we have special qualities, without
forgetting the grace notes of understanding, sympathy and
humour.
Whatever we do, we should be heartily in earnest in the
doing of it. Then we shall find that we have released desirable
impulses and qualities which have been repressed by the events
of everyday life. One important feature about volunteering
for a service is the sense it gives us of rebirth, of controlling
our own destiny. This action is not something done of necessity,
to earn a living or maintain a status, but something we choose
to do as a gesture of free will, as our contribution to society.
Voluntary associations
In voluntary association we find one of the best means of
education in the democratic way of life. The increasingly
secularist and totalitarian trend of government and civilization
warns us that we had better try to generate moral standards,
standards of service, and standards of what becomes the good
citizen. This setting up of standards can only be done in
co—operation with like—minded people.
Voluntary associations are those in which a person is free
to participate or not, as he chooses. They are open to persons
who share a common interest or purpose. They build their own
policy and direct their own activities. They contribute toward
the creation of an alert, concerned and responsible public.
They may be for learning, teaching or serving.
The importance of voluntary societies in a democracy should
need no emphasis in a generation which knows that their suppression
is the first move of a dictatorship. They are sometimes discouraged
in a democracy in the name of efficiency, but the weakness
in this argument is the fact that all—state discharge
of care—taking responsibility fails to grapple with the
instincts of human nature in its higher forms.
Let us look at some of the functions performed by voluntary
associations. A local society is composed of members who manifest
their practical interest by contributions of time, personal
service and the raising of money. A member does not get his
greatest satisfaction from paying dues or making donations.
Of special importance are the great functions of voluntary
associations to experiment and to blaze trails which later
may be followed up and perfected by the community and government;
to stimulate, to check, to contribute a balance of social
power; to co—operate with governmental efforts, to vitalize
civic interests, to develop the whole field of community organization
and institutional co—operation, and to build up an informed
public opinion and guide it into effective channels.
These are not easy tasks. The kinds of challenges are more
exacting than ever before, and the resources available are
under increasing strain. The standard of the work to be done
is higher than was demanded in a previous generation, and
members must be prepared to study and adopt new methods which
are shown to be better than old methods.
Cultural activities
Not all voluntary associations are for relief of need, treatment
of the ill and custody of the deserted. Some are for participation
in and encouragement of the arts.
One price we pay for mechanization is the cutting down of
person—to—person cultural contacts. Mechanized entertainment
so handily provided by television takes the place of family
and community get—togethers for discussion and conversation.
No adequate substitute has yet been found for the intimate
knowledge obtained in the local group, not only by the performers
and leaders but by their friends who come to criticize or
applaud.
There can be no question of the enormous value of the contribution
of voluntary societies to the cultural life of Canada. Evidence
of their work appears in every chapter of the Report of
the Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts,
Letters and Sciences. In ballet, art, music, writing,
and drama, the voluntary groups stimulate and develop native
talent, while in the field of education they help to develop
the informed public opinion which is so necessary in a democracy.
Of the hundreds of briefs presented to the Commission, the
great majority represented the views of voluntary societies.
Governments have been slower to assume responsibilities
for cultural activities than for adjustment of health and
economic needs, and their lack has to be made up by voluntary
effort. About one adult in every twenty—five took part
in an adult education class or course during nine months surveyed
by the Dominion Bureau of Statistics. Private organizations,
associations and agencies operated nearly thirty per cent
of these courses.
To carry out these tasks, said the Annual Report of the
Canadian Association for Adult Education, we need many more
professionally trained adult educators, and many more dedicated
and trained community leaders. "This means more residential
schools like Banff and the Co—op College in Saskatoon,
more university extension work like that at Alberta, British
Columbia and St. Francis Xavier."
Government and voluntary action
The government's part in social welfare and cultural activity
does not detract from the scope, meaning and effectiveness
of professional work in private agencies, nor does it eliminate
the need for experiment and service by voluntary groups. Though
governments may spend millions of dollars every year on welfare
services - family allowances, unemployment insurance, old
age pensions, mothers' allowances, pensions for the blind,
and aid to the handicapped - there are always problems and
situations beyond the scope of governments.
Public relief cares for extremity and provides the necessities
of existence. The voluntary services provide in the main for
special needs and carry the heart into the material forms
of aid.
Effective social work cannot be done wholesale. Let governments
and government departments and the public service apparatus
of all sorts do what they will, there remains the need for
individual human contact and effort, which cannot at present
be supplied to any great degree in mass programmes.
Public service is preferable to the extent that it gives
expression to the duty of the community when it covers large
numbers of people, and when the functions of those who administer
it can be formulated in laws and in rules. Private service
is specially called for where experiments are to be tried
in new ways of dealing with needs, where pioneer work is to
be done, where public opinion requires education by example
of new methods, and in the big no man's land where people
and families are not able to cope with their own problems
but do not fall into the area covered by public service.
Today's voluntary social work aims at promoting the real
welfare of dependents and their children. It is not directed
solely to keeping them alive and out of trouble. It does not
try merely to medicate and dress an open sore, but to heal
it. The emphasis has shifted from relief to rehabilitation,
from advice to counselling, and from amelioration to prevention.
There are in this world hundreds of things which are right
but which cannot be legislated for, things which will never
be done unless someone is prepared to volunteer to do them.
As the Governor General put it: "Voluntary service is a boon
to the individual and a blessing to the community."
Social agencies
The age—long quest for paths of adjustment to life
and peace of mind is now aided by scientific methods of social
work, and volunteers need to recognize the point at which
their ministry ends and the services of professional people
starts.
Up until not so many years ago social welfare services were
performed entirely by volunteers, but as living became more
complex it was necessary to have full—time and well—trained
people. A new profession, among the most important of modern
social movements, came into being as a response to need. There
are, as indicated by membership in the Canadian Association
of Social Workers, more than three thousand professionally
qualified social workers in Canada. The first School of Social
Work in Canada was established at the University of Toronto
in 1914, and in 1918 the second was opened at McGill University.
In mid 1962 there were eight schools.
Professional social work is a rewarding profession, in which
men and women find their compensation not so much in the money
they earn as in love of the work, a sense of its dignity and
importance, and the feeling of contributing materially toward
the happiness of mankind.
But in their work they need voluntary workers. Sound community
planning must originate with the people who live in the community,
and must evolve from the joint effort of the professional
worker and the volunteer. The professional worker needs to
guard against looking upon volunteers as merely unpaid help.
Commenting on the relationship between the professional
worker and the volunteer, an article in Voluntary Action,
published by the Canadian Association for Adult Education,
says: "... the efficiency, the sophisticated acquaintance
with her environment, the technical training, of a superintendent
of nurses, of an executive secretary, of a trained publicist,
can intimidate a volunteer to the point of uselessness."
In a world so changing as ours, it is necessary to maintain
the active good will of the public and the earnest willingness
of the volunteer. The professional worker needs to convey
the feeling that beyond doubt this is the proper agency for
the job it is doing and that it knows how the job should be
done. But the professional worker needs to go further. He
needs to do a job analysis so as to find the place which can
be filled with the greatest personal satisfaction to the voluntary
worker and with the greatest benefit to the agency's clients.
Boards and committees
Much of the work of voluntary organizations gets done by
teams of people working on boards and committees.
A good working group is not made up of people appointed
because they have caste, or influence, or wealth, but because
they are interested in working toward the good of the organization
and do so with intelligence, energy and good will.
Talking, even of the most earnest kind, is not the purpose
of a committee. People may talk learnedly and with self—satisfaction
about juvenile delinquency, but all the talk achieves nothing
comparable to one small action. The earnest committee will
not pose, nor indulge in vain rhetoric, but will hasten to
seek the most appropriate way of accomplishing its purpose.
It will brush aside debate about procedures and get on to
grapple with the pith of its reason for being: human necessities.
The purpose of committees and meetings is this: one person
rarely knows all the facts or all the angles. An exchange
of opinions is necessary to spark right action. The conscientious
member of a committee will study the problem so as to make
his contribution worthy of consideration.
Business men are particularly valuable on service boards
and committees because of their habitual way of looking at
things. They apply their experience so as to locate the problem,
validate it as one affecting this group, set up research and
collect information, consider all the various ways of solving
the problem or meeting the situation, and reach a decision.
They do not begrudge a minute of the time they spend in
meetings of voluntary associations, but they do wish that
the meetings were carefully planned and efficiently carried
out.
Changing times
It is part of democratic responsibility to see that citizens
are not submerged by the rising tide of a new civilization,
to preserve them from the feeling of futility.
Some of their problems stem from conditions in society itself,
some from the natural waywardness of human beings, some from
physical environment, some from the changes involved in the
industrialization of an agricultural society and the automation
of a manual society.
We cannot say with assurance that the reason for need of
help is this or that single cause. More likely the reason
was better told in Gulliver's Travels, where the giant
was bound by pygmies. It was not any one thread that held
him to earth, but thousands of strands which the busy little
people carried over his body in every direction.
We must realize that in a large and relatively complex society
such as ours some people are going to get hurt through no
special fault of their own. Multitudes of people require help,
not because of fire, flood, and war, but because of heredity,
culture and social environment. Great burdens sometimes fall
upon people who are not equipped either physically or mentally
to carry them.
And so: to work
What we require of volunteers is not a compliant dealing
with things as they are, but a positive and spirited adventure
into what might be. If it be true, as Galileo said, that you
cannot teach a man anything but only help him to find it within
himself, then voluntary work for social ends can be the greatest
good a person can do himself.
The volunteer is one who is not content merely to change
as the world around him changes. He wishes to be in the vanguard
of a movement for improvement. He is determined to achieve
his highest humanity through leading the way toward constructive
relationships with others.
Despite the bomb—clouded nature of our environment,
there is no need to give in to pessimism. It is possible to
rediscover the foundation of our humanity, however obscured
it may appear to be. Men may confront their loneliness, their
fragmentation, their isolation from the great stream of events
which they understand only imperfectly, by returning so far
as it is in their power to a feeling of responsibility for
society and to taking part in meeting social needs.
Published by RBC Financial Group. All editions from the RBC
Letter collection are available on our web site at www.rbc.com/responsibility/letter.
Our e-mail address is: rbcletter@rbc.com.
Publié aussi en francais.
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