The latest TIME tells us:
In 2006 more than 61 million Americans dedicated 8.1 billion hours to volunteerism. The nation’s volunteer rate has increased by more than 6 percentage points since 1989. Overall, 27% of Americans engage in civic life by volunteering.
If you would like to see continued growth in volunteer work, would you rather:
A. Ensure government doesn’t get in the way.
B. Ensure that government gets a piece of the action.
If you answered B, you agree with TIME managing editor Richard Stengel. His cover story touts the virtues of government taking over private-sector volunteer efforts.