A gathering of cynics
Cynics couldn't even wait until the Presidents' Summit for
America's Future in Philadelphia was over before they started
looking down their noses at the idea of a national effort for
community service.
The three-day gathering to promote volunteerism was described
as "sugar coated," a "feel-good frenzy." President
Clinton was called "cheerleader-in-chief," the "Mr.
Rogers of the Oval Office," a "downsized president"
reduced to the trivial pursuit of roller-brushing graffiti. One
critic went so far as to call the summit "a stealth way to
expand government programs and government's reach."
They've missed the point.
Will volunteering to serve in your community end homelessness
and hunger, restore happy families and provide all that our nation's
children need for their minds and bodies? Of course not.
But given government's declining role in social services, how
insurmountably worse are all these problems going to be without
volunteer efforts at the local level all across the nation?
When people are trying to join together to do something constructive,
they deserve support, not cynicism. Fortunately, Abilenians already
know about the value of volunteering and aren't likely to be disheartened
by foolish derision.
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Copyright ©1997,
Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications
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