Carrol:
"HOWEVER. You have heard the banal complaint, Too many Chiefs, Not enough Indians. Well, in most local left organizations (particularly anti-war groups) the problem is the opposite. We have (or could have) plenty of Indians but we are gravely lacking in Chiefs. Volunteer as a leader in a local anti-war group. Desperately needed. [WS:] "
[WS:] I think the opposite is true, too many lefties want o be chiefs or primadonnas, rather than taking orders grunts. That is why there so many Left splinter groups, and left groups more willing to accept monetary donations than volunteer work. Money pays salaries of the chiefs, volunteer work does not.
BTW, on average, the total value of volunteer work exceeds the total value of charitable money donations by the factor 2:1 (http://www.jhu.edu/~cnp/PDF/comptable5_dec05.pdf). That includes spectacular gifts by wealthy schmucks that get all the media attention.
Andy F: "I was under the impression that Catholic volunteer work tends to be Stuff We Like. Or do I just know weird Catholics?"
[WS:] I dunno. Opus Dei is what comes to my mind.
Doug: "Gallup, probably. They ask the question yearly. Here's the latest, ranked by the sum of "great deal/quite a lot" of confidence. At least unions beat HMOs. The police are more trusted than churches!
[WS:] Pretty depressing, is not it? Also note the high position of the military and small business on this scale, as well as low positions of educational and modern rational and democratic institutions. HL Mencken was right on the money in the description of this society and its values as booboisie. It is so fucking petit bourgeois and provincial in its core that it is not even funny.
Wojtek