Bright Spots In Our Future: Economics Outside The Box

Volunteering in America

A recent Gallup Poll revealed that over half of Americans believe the economy is still getting worse rather than better. In a nutshell, people are concerned that they and their government do not have enough money and too much debt. They both have the same problem.

Taking an opposite view, the Federal Reserve Bank argues there is too much money, thereby causing inflation. So it raised interest rates 17 times over the last 30 months to curtail money growth.

So while the nation's top financiers argue about having too much money, the public and its government is hurting for cash. This raises a fundamental question. Is money showing signs of obsolescence in serving as a more universal process of exchange?

Few would argue that money is the principal form by which we exchange in a complex economy. And when money is present, everyone readily accepts it. But what about when money is not present?

Volunteering in America: State Trends and Rankings is a new first-of-a-kind report prepared by the Corporation for National and Community Service (www.nationalservice.org). As the title denotes, it provides a picture of our helpful and cooperative spirit. The report quantifies the extent to which America operates without money, but through volunteerism.

The report reveals more than 65 million Americans give an average of 50 hours per year in some form of volunteer work. That totals roughly 3.3 billion hours, significantly more hours than Wal-Mart employees clock in to run America's largest corporation for a year.

[The full article appears in the Jan/Feb 2007 issue of Touch the Soil™ magazine.]