The Tension Betwixt Volunteerism and Activism

    Paul Rogat Loeb uses a classic situation to describe the tension between volunteerism and activism: the Stanford student who says that he hopes one day "'my grandchildren will get to have the same experience working in the same homeless shelter that I did,'" (1). The problem with this statement is that the existence of a homeless shelter means that a system that allows people to become homeless still exists. There is nothing wrong with volunteering, but "pure volunteerism has its limits as a way to change society," (1).
    On our service trip, we worked to build a shed in the garden of the Grass Valley food bank. On one occasion during the trip, we analyzed the existence of the Food Bank using the Iceberg Model. The food bank services a number of people who are unable to provide food for themselves. These people are at the tip of the iceberg, and near the bottom lies the system that does not pay them an adequate living wage. And below that, perhaps, lies a mindset of greed and competition. Can a few hours of volunteerism combat such a mindset?
    Loeb writes, "Greg Ricks [...] compared the situation of community service volunteers to people trying to pull an endless sequence of drowning children out of a river. Of course we must address the immediate crisis, and try to rescue the children. But we also need to find out why they're falling into the river--because no matter how hard we try, we lack the resources, strength, and stamina to save them all," (2). So yes, we should volunteer, but we should also be active in changing policies.
    One of the hurdles potential activists must overcome is something Loeb calls the "perfect standard," or the idea that an activist must have all the facts, be articulate, saint-like, and only take on the most important issues. Loeb says that "enshrining our heroes makes it hard for mere mortals to measure up," (4). In fact, the heroes of activism so often worshiped entered the realm of activism knowing that they were imperfect and would encounter much failure before achieving any real change. Also, activists are not "people who by sole virtue of superior genetic traits become activists. There are only individuals whose voices and visions through happenstance or habit have been sufficiently encouraged," (5). Loeb might suggest that the Stanford student mentioned in the introduction should not only volunteer at the homeless shelter, but lead a campaign to reform our system of economic thought.