Volunteering

[Martin Hash]

"The only thing worse than working for somebody is working for somebody for free." - me

Telling somebody to volunteer for something is quintessential passive aggression: not only does it belittle the target, but it bestows virtue on the source: “Your skills aren’t good enough for financial reward but maybe somebody will take them for free; I’d do it but I'm doing something worth getting paid.” There’s also the “You should feel guilty for your success, you owe penance,” aspect of it.

Indeed, there are a lot of masochists who revel in the degradation of slavery, which paradoxically gives value to a volunteer position; in fact, it’s actually as difficult to be selected as a volunteer as for a real job because most people require more oversight than any value they can deliver. To get a volunteer job, you've got to know someone, and if you’re denied, you’ve belittled yourself for nothing. Even if you are selected, it always ends up with a request for money; "Do you want to be on our Board?" Volunteerism is simply another way of handing control of your life over to someone else. Obviously, a lot of people are afraid of liberty: making decisions for themselves and reaping the reward or suffering the consequences of their own actions.