Volunteers wanted!

Written By: - Date published: 9:54 pm, June 22nd, 2013 - 6 comments
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As National Volunteer Week draws to a close, let us continue to celebrate the 1/3 of New Zealanders who regularly do volunteer work in our communities year-round.

The theme for this year’s week was “he tangata, he tangata, he tangata”, and you can’t get truer than that.

Of course volunteer work isn’t counted in GDP, and to a neo-liberal is thus worthless, but that’s hardly going to bother Standardistas.

Volunteering is up there on things that add happiness to people’s lives (especially the volunteers themselves), builds communities, and keeps important non-profit organisations going – and those things are far more important.

So whether you’re volunteering time for a political party in the name of democracy (and they need you in Ikaroa-Rawhiti), down at your church, or for Greenpeace, Save the Children or Amnesty, let’s keep getting out there, for the benefit of all of us.

6 comments on “Volunteers wanted! ”

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  1. ghostrider888 1
    22 June 2013 at 11:27 pm

    Amen. now, what is the best way to make oneself available to Labour in Ikaroa-Rawhiti Ben?

  2. rosy 2
    23 June 2013 at 1:53 am

    Of course volunteer work isn’t counted in GDP, and to a neo-liberal is thus worthless

    Aww c’mon, they love it! Other people doing things for free means they don’t need to bother. They can just sit back and enjoy the fact that one more problem is being disappeared without them having to pay for it.

    In some places they also spend quite a lot of time making sure they can get ‘volunteer’ interns and trainees to work for them for free. All good stuff in their world.

    • locus 2.1
      23 June 2013 at 3:14 am

      The neo-liberal economic pandemic in NZ’s political circles totally rejects responsibilitiy for cooperation anywhere except between big business and government. Mutual backscratching with the rich and powerful and protecting your own are the ultimate drivers for personal success.

      Volunteerism in the neo-lib business world is for suckers. Well, at best maybe they don’t think ‘suckers’… they think ‘ah interns that’s nice, these are clearly people who are making the right choices and taking responsibility for improving their lot in life.’

      As for volunteers working for good causes, the weak, exploited and disadvantaged? Yeah, you’re right – it’s definitely ‘all good free stuff ‘ to the neolibs, who can then sit back and indulge themselves a little by offering awards, recognition and medals at carefully scripted and media-attended gala evenings.

  3. locus 3
    23 June 2013 at 3:15 am

    Thanks for the encouragement Ben. It’s easy to find reasons to not get involved. It’s amazing that 30% of NZers not only believe it’s good to build a better sociey, but are out there doing so.

  4. captain hook 4
    23 June 2013 at 11:24 am

    pure bullshit.
    if you get a gig volunteering then you are doing the worst shit work of all.
    anything else is jealously guarded by dweebs who are scared you are going to grab their job.
    get real.

    • locus 4.1
      23 June 2013 at 8:01 pm

      hook…. that’s defeatist

      any kind of volunteer work to improve the quality of our lives and enjoyment of the world we live in is not to be scorned.

      do you threaten anyone by offering to go out and improve the local walks around town?

      what about helping out the hard-pressed volunteers of many organisations for a moment so that they can recharge their batteries?

      …..isn’t there any kind of volunteer work out there that if you had a go at would bring a smile to others’ or even to your own face?