The number is real and the warmth is earned. But notice what the framing quietly does. It takes a recovery and calls it a reawakening.
Helped a neighbor in the past year. Picked up groceries. Lent a tool. This is not the civic muscle. This is the reflex of being a primate near other primates. It survived because it costs almost nothing and produces an immediate face in front of you. It was never in danger.
The thing that actually died is the thing you mention and then walk past. The Rotary lodge. The union hall. The church with a Saturday shift. Those were not acts of kindness. They were structures. They put you in a room, on a schedule, with people you did not choose, around a task that outlasted your mood. They generated obligation. And obligation is the only thing that ever turned a stranger into a fellow citizen.
A 22 percent jump in formal volunteering from 2022 to 2023 is a bounce off a pandemic floor. Read it next to the membership data and the shape is clear. People are doing more discrete acts of help and belonging to fewer durable institutions.
You can build informal kindness alone. You cannot build trust alone. Trust is a byproduct of repeated, structured, non-optional contact, and that is precisely the thing the chart still shows falling.
Take a look at high trust societies…
So the good news is smaller than the headline. The muscle did not get out of practice. A different muscle never weakened, and we are mistaking it for the one that did.
Let’s recognize the progress and begin to rebuild trust.
Decades ago, the political scientist Robert Putnam asked a simple question. Where did all the bowling leagues go? America was once full of them, 5 and 10 and 20-member groups that met, socialized, had fun. From them came the Kiwanis clubs, the Rotary club, the Elks, the many other small civic threads that together weave the fabric we know as civil society. "Bowling Alone" brought home the reality of growing up in TV Land. Of all explanations, Putnam found that the rise of TV was the sole 'explanatory variable' to account for the demise.
No accident that TV Land hath finally spawned the rough orange beast, "Its hour come round at last," slouching straight in from Mar--a-Lardo.
If you have a young family, sports have become the holy grail.
A bit of local good news, the Rotary Club in our small town with 2 private colleges have engaged with students and with some of the young Hispanic leaders. I’ve had 4 invites to a Rotary meeting since moving here a year and half ago. I’ll get there one of these days!
i'll happily take that good news. thanks Adam! it's small facts like these that give rise to personal agency & transformational hope 🙏🏻❤️🔥🙏🏻
🧚🏽♂️LINK FAIRY EDIT: check out Prof. Gulika Reddy's talk "Teaching Transformative Hope to Advance Social Change" to learn about harnessing knowledge to motivate activism https://youtu.be/zwfQorVqFmM
Wonderful column, Adam -- it gives us hope. In my neighborhood, we started a book club several years ago. It still meets every month. A book club is a wonderful way to get better acquainted with your neighbors and build a sense of community. In our club, we have interesting discussions and are introduced to a wide variety of books we might have overlooked otherwise.
Good news indeed, Adam. If each of us volunteered just one hour of our time to a cause we care passionately about, we could change everything.
I’m a senior, and I know many seniors live alone—depressed, isolated, and apathetic about “life at its end.” I say: get out there. Use your time, energy, and whatever talents you possess to do some good. You’ll feel better, healthier, younger, and you’ll sleep better at night.
All hail all volunteers everywhere! Nothing could be happier news than real evidence that millions are continuing -- and returning -- to rebuild, refurbish, refresh the very meaning of "community" itself.
I’m reading this is a grateful member of a co-housing community in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. There are 30 homes here and we exchange every neighborly gift imaginable. Pooling talents, experience, and wisdom face-to-face is so nourishing! Check out Cohousing.org.
Thanks for this. I moved into my condo almost 4 years ago (never lived in one before). It’s a very different experience and took some getting used to. In that time I have solidly connected with one neighbor in my complex and his family, and a new good friend in a senior low income building down the street. We socialize.
I have always had a good relationship with my sons. One lived near. The other moved up from California 5 years ago. Now we are super tight and see each other all the time. I think much of what has gone on brought us into a tight little circle and we all help each other out. I have been babysitting my two grandchildren to help out for 6 years. I love that we are closer.
Be aware Adam that many corporations build in volunteer days to their standard environment now. So some volunteering are people who would rather volunteer than be at work but the only people they are being exposed to are the same people they work with. I wonder if this skews the numbers?
The number is real and the warmth is earned. But notice what the framing quietly does. It takes a recovery and calls it a reawakening.
Helped a neighbor in the past year. Picked up groceries. Lent a tool. This is not the civic muscle. This is the reflex of being a primate near other primates. It survived because it costs almost nothing and produces an immediate face in front of you. It was never in danger.
The thing that actually died is the thing you mention and then walk past. The Rotary lodge. The union hall. The church with a Saturday shift. Those were not acts of kindness. They were structures. They put you in a room, on a schedule, with people you did not choose, around a task that outlasted your mood. They generated obligation. And obligation is the only thing that ever turned a stranger into a fellow citizen.
A 22 percent jump in formal volunteering from 2022 to 2023 is a bounce off a pandemic floor. Read it next to the membership data and the shape is clear. People are doing more discrete acts of help and belonging to fewer durable institutions.
You can build informal kindness alone. You cannot build trust alone. Trust is a byproduct of repeated, structured, non-optional contact, and that is precisely the thing the chart still shows falling.
Take a look at high trust societies…
So the good news is smaller than the headline. The muscle did not get out of practice. A different muscle never weakened, and we are mistaking it for the one that did.
Let’s recognize the progress and begin to rebuild trust.
Johan 🐌
Wisdom in that observation...
Decades ago, the political scientist Robert Putnam asked a simple question. Where did all the bowling leagues go? America was once full of them, 5 and 10 and 20-member groups that met, socialized, had fun. From them came the Kiwanis clubs, the Rotary club, the Elks, the many other small civic threads that together weave the fabric we know as civil society. "Bowling Alone" brought home the reality of growing up in TV Land. Of all explanations, Putnam found that the rise of TV was the sole 'explanatory variable' to account for the demise.
No accident that TV Land hath finally spawned the rough orange beast, "Its hour come round at last," slouching straight in from Mar--a-Lardo.
If you have a young family, sports have become the holy grail.
A bit of local good news, the Rotary Club in our small town with 2 private colleges have engaged with students and with some of the young Hispanic leaders. I’ve had 4 invites to a Rotary meeting since moving here a year and half ago. I’ll get there one of these days!
i'll happily take that good news. thanks Adam! it's small facts like these that give rise to personal agency & transformational hope 🙏🏻❤️🔥🙏🏻
🧚🏽♂️LINK FAIRY EDIT: check out Prof. Gulika Reddy's talk "Teaching Transformative Hope to Advance Social Change" to learn about harnessing knowledge to motivate activism https://youtu.be/zwfQorVqFmM
Wonderful column, Adam -- it gives us hope. In my neighborhood, we started a book club several years ago. It still meets every month. A book club is a wonderful way to get better acquainted with your neighbors and build a sense of community. In our club, we have interesting discussions and are introduced to a wide variety of books we might have overlooked otherwise.
People look for different things in volunteering --- episodic rather than long-term commitments. I'll take it.
Thanks Adam. You are spot on! Keep up the good work!
Good news indeed, Adam. If each of us volunteered just one hour of our time to a cause we care passionately about, we could change everything.
I’m a senior, and I know many seniors live alone—depressed, isolated, and apathetic about “life at its end.” I say: get out there. Use your time, energy, and whatever talents you possess to do some good. You’ll feel better, healthier, younger, and you’ll sleep better at night.
Volunteering is another form of resistance.
Become a member of the Gray Rebellion.
Love the Sunday good news Adam!
The sun is out this morning and with your hopeful words the day is going to be a good one.
Is this why so many show up at the “No Kings” rally?
Thanks for sharing! Hopeful news indeed!
Beautiful news.
All hail all volunteers everywhere! Nothing could be happier news than real evidence that millions are continuing -- and returning -- to rebuild, refurbish, refresh the very meaning of "community" itself.
I’m reading this is a grateful member of a co-housing community in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. There are 30 homes here and we exchange every neighborly gift imaginable. Pooling talents, experience, and wisdom face-to-face is so nourishing! Check out Cohousing.org.
Thanks for this. I moved into my condo almost 4 years ago (never lived in one before). It’s a very different experience and took some getting used to. In that time I have solidly connected with one neighbor in my complex and his family, and a new good friend in a senior low income building down the street. We socialize.
I have always had a good relationship with my sons. One lived near. The other moved up from California 5 years ago. Now we are super tight and see each other all the time. I think much of what has gone on brought us into a tight little circle and we all help each other out. I have been babysitting my two grandchildren to help out for 6 years. I love that we are closer.
Thanks for all your columns. They are wonderful. It was particularly nice to have such an uplifting ne this morning.
Be aware Adam that many corporations build in volunteer days to their standard environment now. So some volunteering are people who would rather volunteer than be at work but the only people they are being exposed to are the same people they work with. I wonder if this skews the numbers?