the autonomy of service

One of the documents I stumbled across on the common drive here at work was this paper on the history of national service in the US. VISTAs had to read it for last year's national conference. Lots of it is exactly what you'd expect: Civilian Conservation Corps roots, Volunteers In Service to America was pushed through congress in the name of Kennedy's ghost, Regan slashed at VISTA funds like Jason slashes at promiscuous campers, Clinton merged VISTA with his new AmeriCorps and so on and so forth. There are a couple points I'm still musing on, though. Ready?

VISTA has been attacked on practical levels, and that's not totally unreasonable. Just few thousand people are "Fighting poverty with a passion" each year. Factor in how very few people (especially legislators) understand the difference between direct service and capacity building and we wind up basically paddling upstream. So are we really making a difference? (Although, I must say that I totally lucked out on my fantastic state office and work site. My assignment is by-the-book, I anticipate tangible results, and the state office is totally supportive.) I can accept that there are practical criticisms of VISTA. It should come as no surprise that I think periodic evaluation of the program is a great way to sustain it.

Still, I just can't wrap my head around the ideological attacks on national service. Well, maybe I can. What I really mean is that I totally disagree. (Shocking, right?) The basic argument is that since I receive a living stipend and other benefits while I am volunteering, I am not acting autonomously and am therefore besmirching the name of volunteerism. Also, the feds pay my stipend and Big Government = apocalypse or whatever. But this reciprocity business is one of my biggest pet peeves about my own culture.

Despite what Precious Moments greeting cards and forwarded emails with too many .gif files have told you your whole life, random acts of kindness don't really exist. Human culture is based on reciprocity, and that's not good or bad. It just is. Parents don't hemorrhage time and money into kids because it feels good after 18 years. I didn't occasionally pick up my roommate from her night class when it was raining because it made me feel superior. No one donates to charity for no reason. Everyone needs something from someone at certain points in our lives. Parents expect children to make grandbabies and scope out decent nursing homes. I never had to hesitate to call my roommate when I was the one stranded on campus without an umbrella. If 1,000 years from now, North America has gone totally Mad Max while Wal*Mart and SUVs thrive in Africa, you bet we'd expect a "Do They Know it's Christmas at All" or two.

Does that make my parents selfish? Does that invalidate my relationship with my college roommate? Does that mean that Bono is less than sincere? No. It just means that we've created a whole mess of false compartmentalizations. To experience true autonomy, I'd have to make sure that I didn't know who I was helping or how I was helping them to ensure no one feels debt, entitlement, or a sense of karma, and then suppress the chemicals that stimulate my brain to feel good about it. Of course we don't do it that way! Being human means being connected to pretty much everyone in one way or another. When we ignore or simplify the implications of this, we create expectations like "true autonomy" that are unappealing and impossible to achieve.

So no, I absolutely would not sit here at Girls Incorporated of Indianapolis from 9-5 every day for a year without compensation, the benefit of experience, and the connections I will make. But I refuse to believe there's anything wrong about that. The government supports AmeriCorps, and in return AmeriCorps enhances the stability of American society, which means the government can continue thrive. Furthermore, the experience and connections I gain this year will eventually be transferred in to the work force and non-professional volunteerism, so who knows how many people will benefit from this year over the course of my lifetime. This is not nearly as simple as just subverting the purpose of the government.