A major tenet of modern liberalism holds that you as an individual are not smart enough to synchronize your own existence with the tasks essential for society to keep operating efficiently without the oversight of hierarchical elites. This is particularly evident in regards to the effort by various social institutions to thrust the idea of voluntarism upon the American people either through mandatory participation or through a process of guilt.

The latest campaign to shame the American public into compliance relies on a partnership between the Hollywood establishment and allied nonprofit organizations.

This effort is centered around the movie "Pay It Forward". In this film, a young student, encouraged by his teacher, hopes to spark a chain reaction of good deeds that will eventually sweep across the county.

Of itself, such a premise sounds quite innocuous and is not without its redeemable aspects. The problem arises in the spin put on an otherwise positive message.

Of the film, Bob Godwin, president of the Points of Light Foundation said, "’Pay it Forward’ can strengthen the development of a national volunteer movement which began in the 1960’s and last gained momentum during the President’s Summit for America’s Future in 1997."

In other words, you’re too stupid to help your family, friends, and neighbors on your own. You need a massive effort on the part of bureaucratic and private sector elites to do it up right. Ultimately, it is not about helping your fellow man, but about power. Nancie Part of the Prince George’s County, Maryland Volunteer Center added to this sentiment by writing in the Prince George’s Journal, "Our volunteer center can help people motivated by the movie to step outside the comfort their homes and work places..."

So basically you don’t do enough by going to work, taking care of your family, and otherwise staying out of trouble. We must now all bear the burden of having to "step outside of the comfort of our homes and workplaces". Yet we are the intolerant ones if we dare question the actions of panhandlers on street corners and welfare recipients who don’t know how to do anything other than have babies for not contributing to society.

One wonders just how far the stars of "Pay It Forward" stepped out of the comfort of their homes and workplaces in producing this film. Do they plan to donate the proceeds of this picture to charity or to render assistance without a film crew looking on?

Usually these kinds of big shots live in gated communities away from the decay and despair resulting from the kinds of social policies these liberals advocate. Their level of charitable involvement usually extends to wearing a red AIDS ribbon to the Academy Awards or some other left-wing convocation.

These kinds of comments should also be taken as an attack upon America’s system of freedoms and market economics.

According to one John Stossel special, ultimately most businesses do more for mankind than Mother Theresa ever could in that they spread the goods and services necessary for the material improvement of humanity across a much wider basis in terms of providing both employment and provisions.

And employing the standard advocated by those harping the chords of voluntarism, Mother Theresa’s work on behalf of the poor doesn’t count either because she derived her keep from it and it was undertaken in response to a deep religious motivation.

What these enemies of free enterprise fail to realize is that many social needs and problems find their amelioration through some kind of profit or reward accruing to those arising to a particular call or challenge. Even belief in Christ is initially motivated by a desire to avoid the torments of hell and to enjoy the bliss of heaven.

It must be remembered that charity most often begins at home. If more Americans looked a little more to the needs of their homes and families instead of the allure of the world seeking to involve them in the affairs of every other Tom, Dick, and Harry to come down the pike as suggested by voluntaristic communitarians, maybe America would not need the help of so many meddlesome social welfare agencies. Many problems would end up being addressed within the context of loving families before reaching the levels of culture-wide pathologies.

Copyright © 2000 by Frederick Meekins .
All Rights Reserved.

-Published with permission