Volunteerism

Author Theodore Zeldin once commented that "the most insidious impediment to compassion expressing itself has been a cynical view of humanity". This statement indeed rings true, and is pertinent in a time where the worst of Man has been brought to light in the spate of recent scandals involving charities. The belief that Mankind's tainted soul has been marked irredeemable has profound and far-reaching effects on public psyche, and has bred a attitude of cynicism towards such charities, which undoubtedly would have prevented them from performing acts of kindness for fear that their gestures would be repaid in full with greed and selfishness. Thus, cynicism is the prickliest obstacle to human compassion surfacing itself, but there are indeed other factors that have prevented this surfacing.

One of the most potent factors that have prevented the expression of altruism is the distrust in our fellow Men. The basic foundation and bedrock of charity is inherently built on trust. The public has to place its full and unwavering belief in that very foundation in order for donations as well as volunteers to come in and help that charity. We can safely assume that without this solid bedrock, the quintessential essence of charity, various charity organizations would have inevitably crumbled under public scrutiny. However, this was exactly what had happened in the nefarious NKF fiasco in Singapore, where donations were misappropriated. The National Volunteerism Survey in Singapore reports that the percentage of people who had complete confidence in charities had fallen from 55% before the NKF controversy, to a merge 28% after it. Such evidence highlights a worrying trend. It is obvious that public trust has been eroded after such an incident. We can infer from the data that the cynicism of the public has soared after this incident, as seen from the drastic drop in public confidence. The public, afraid that their trust might be misplaced in charity organizations, afraid of being betrayed by the organizations which they once had held in such high regard again, would grow to have a mentality of cynicism ingrained within their psyche. No longer would they have so unquestioningly trusted the charities, but instead would have become unwilling to contribute both time and money to the organizations. Consequentially, charity would have failed to surface itself, and all semblance of compassion would have been quashed.

Another factor would undoubtedly be the fear of going unappreciated and unacknowledged by peers. Volunteers require positive reinforcement to be able to continue their work. It is simply foolish to assume that all humans are veritable saints who are able to continue their good work under intense criticism and mockery. Yet, it is exactly this that volunteers fear that they will receive instead of praise and approval, which translates into a cynical view of humanity. And it is exactly this which prevents compassion from surfacing. Assistant Professor & Extension Specialist (volunteerism) Ken Culp found out in a survey conducted on ex-volunteers that "Being unwanted and unappreciated" took the top spot in reason which had prompted American volunteers from stopping their work. This fear is not unfounded. People have a tendency to become overcritical and unappreciative while overlooking the efforts of others.