Many of us think our individual actions can’t combat systemic problems. Vox's Rachel Cohen and Bowling Alone author Robert Putnam explain why volunteer work, no matter how small, can make a difference for you and for us all. This episode was produced by Miles Bryan, edited by Matt Collette and Miranda Kennedy, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Patrick Boyd, and hosted by Noel King. Transcript at vox.com/today-explained-podcast Support Today, Explained by becoming a Vox Member today: http://www.vox.com/members A volunteer serving a Thanksgiving meal at the Long Beach Rescue Mission. Photo by Brittany Murray/MediaNews Group/Long Beach Press-Telegram via Getty Images. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chapter 1: Why did Rachel Cohen initially think volunteering was pointless?
Rachel Cohen had decided that volunteering her time wasn't really worth her time.
I'm 32 years old, and I'd say really since I was in late high school, junior, senior year, I started to see volunteering as kind of pointless. It wasn't going to make a big difference on the things I cared about. It wasn't going to move the needle. So I just stopped doing it.
But then she changed her mind. And then that changed her life.
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Today Explained!
I'm Noelle King with Vox's Rachel Cohen. Rachel covers some of the most fraught topics in America. Abortion, child care, housing. Then earlier this year, she wrote a more personal essay that got a very big response. It was about how she changed her mind about volunteering. Rachel had grown to think it was kind of a useless thing to do. And then she came around in a big way.
Well, when I was growing up, I did volunteer. You know, I have these clear memories of bagging food at food pantries, of cleaning up parks. I actually asked my mom about this recently. Okay, Mom, fact check me. What do you remember of me volunteering growing up?
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Chapter 2: What changed Rachel's perspective on volunteering?
There goes the dog again.
She spent many years working primarily with rich people, trying to get them to give more money. And she says that rich people today are not really the real problem.
I think that the moment of sudden concern was when we learned that year over year, with a few exceptions, there's more money given in our society, but by fewer givers. And year over year, with rare exception, more volunteer hours have been donated by fewer volunteers.
Okay, so rich people are not the problem. I never said they were. You never said they were. What is the problem? What does Jane say?
Well, Jane's group with this generosity commission, they told me that their research suggests that the decline in volunteering and, you know, charitable giving, that it's all downstream of other themes that we have sort of heard about, you know, rising social isolation, church attendance is down, less trusted institutions, we're all bowling alone.
One of the things that has worried us is we conducted focus groups with everyday givers, everyday volunteers, and several of them said, look, the problems are too large for me to make a difference. Or, I'm not Bill Gates. I can't possibly make a difference. It's important to feel you can make a difference in a democracy so that you do play your role of civic engagement.
We're depending on each other to be involved.
All right, so Jane is speaking directly to someone like you, someone who said it isn't worth it. What made you change your mind?
Well, I got that reader question about a year ago, and it made me think, you know, am I making the world a better place by not doing this stuff? Am I happier by not doing this stuff? You know, I'm busy, but I'm not that busy. I always find time for fitness classes and traveling and seeing my friends and popular TV shows. I just hadn't been carving out much time for or any time for serving others.
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