Durham has always had its share of meaningless feel-good gestures, from candlelight vigils to various “walks” against this and that. But today’s Herald-Sun reports an almost comical array of these events. First, there’s a story about 111 people going out to “Make a Difference” by doing things to people’s property that they should do themselves, giving them free fish rather than teaching them to fish. Then there’s a story about the “commUNITY” festival in the same area of town that was so touchy-feely that even the reporter used the word “heartfelt” in his lead paragraph.
And, finally, there’s a story on the ultimate meaningless gesture, Kids Voting. The organizers of this program would like us to think that without it the Republic will die. What, pray, did we all do for more than 200 years without it? I would ask. I was once asked to be on a committee for Kids Voting and it became clear at the first meeting that this was actually a way to teach kids to vote for liberal issues and liberal candidates. One of my fellow committee members actually said that.
A disturbing collectivist strain runs through all of these “service” related events, and too many people run lemming-like to get involved. With the local media’s aid these events are now beyond criticism and critics who think individualism and personal responsibility are better for society than collectivism are deemed mean-spirited and anti-community. That’s me, I guess.
