This view, I believe, is multiplying in the minds and hearts of people around the world, and not just adults on the crest of retirement, but students and young children as well. People of all ages are warming to the notion of giving something back and in their generosity discovering intrinsic rewards and possibly a whole new purpose to their life. What might it mean for the world and all its problems if an international army of volunteers would emerge, each individual determined to fix just one small-or large-problem?
Humankind's quest for a meaningful life is hardly new. Aristotle wrote volumes on the subject. Service to others has long been the backbone of the world's oldest and largest religions, from Judaism to Christianity to
Buddhism to Islamism. Yet in the modern world, with a pop culture that has become increasingly awash with superficial concerns, introspective questions as to what amounts to a good and decent life are rarely pondered outside places of worship or some random philosophy class at a university. That is, however, beginning to change. In the United States alone there are now more than a million registered charities-double the number in 2000. There are probably another million unregistered charitable organizations. Registered nonprofits constitute one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy. This movement is global. From nothing, in fewer than ten years some 400,000 charities have sprung up in Russia; 300,000 in China; 500,000 in India. The movement is especially strong in the U.K., which has a blossoming "Third Sector."
Former president Bill Clinton, in his book Giving, argues that this global outpouring is the result of three factors: the fall of communism and rise of democracies, which has created more opportunity for citizen activism; the development of global trade and information technology, which has provided the means for people to give both time and money; and the build out of the Internet, which has enabled ordinary people to find each other and coalesce around shared interests or causes.
Those are certainly valid observations. But in my view the primary force at work today lies in millions of people the world over reaching an age and a time in life when they'll have the opportunity to consider a higher purpose-and still have enough good years in front of them to act on their conclusions. No previous generation has had this opportunity; none had the experience of watching their parents and grandparents live so long and waste decades of extra years thinking that each day might be their last. Today we understand that longevity isn't a fluke; our lives will continue to stretch out, probably much longer-maybe very much longer, than you imagine.
Springing forth is a collective sense of purpose, a realization that individuals can do something worthwhile with the resources and extra time they're being given on Earth. The world has never been in greater need of kindness and selfless contribution. Hurt in its many forms retains an iron grip on the world-from simple crime and disease to poverty and illiteracy to the many problems associated with terrorism and the environment.
The combination of global need and an emerging army of educated, motivated, purpose-seeking volunteers with their own ideas on how to fix things is a potent mix. Their ultimate force is to be determined, but I believe that we are on the verge of a golden age of giving-and change.
Currents Converge
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