Obenieta: Separate, we sink

Friday, November 4, 2011

LEAVE them alone. No room for others, sorry. Let them live in an aquarium. For the selfish, all it takes to swim against the current is to think of and do something for the greater good. Tell them about Santa Claus, all sweetness and light despite his load, and they may as well consider him fit to be tied with his sack around his neck, to be thrown to the sea, and to become supper for sharks.

Swallowing the taste of self-interest is no sweat, indeed. Almost everyone, hands down, can do it. But even as many of us are better off burying our heads in the sand out of shame, there’s no hiding from this hackneyed fact: No man is an island.

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Neither is life a beach for the few whose social sense or civic sensibility goes well with their survival instinct. “Death threats are not uncommon in his line of work,” reads a recent news story. “But despite the risks, 44-year-old Joseph Jamili enlisted in the service in the spirit of volunteerism.”

Since he started helping the police in 2004 by tipping off information against the lawless, Jamili at last took an oath as a new member of the Community Investigative Support (CIS), a group of volunteers who vow to contribute their time and effort in aid of law enforcement. “No amount of skillful diligent police work can effectively aid in crime prevention,” averred a high-ranking official, “without the active participation of the community.”

To the extent that the investigation and solution of crimes often leave the police as good as floating boats on the swelling statistic of victimization, acts of civilian assistance do go a long way in helping turn the tide of apathy and cynicism. It may be a cold world out there, but it’s heartwarming to know that some people still care.

We may yet learn, even as we poke our tongues in the cheek, to speak and really mean what Jamili and his fellow volunteers chirped: “Even if we don’t get a salary, being able to help is already a reward in itself.”

That they could literally do good for nothing is something that would hopefully set off a ripple effect of civic consciousness. This mindset may yet make waves enough to float our collective well-being through individual altruism anchored in involvement with problems of law and order long plunging our society in helplessness. This, in the long haul, is about taking the helm—one citizen at a time—on local issues en route to enhancing our communities.

Where we are family of neighbors, there we may rest assured that we can keep our heads above water despite the flood of our insecurities, particularly the sinking state of our economy. If it’s any comfort, a recent study in America revealed that “there is a strong correlation between civic engagement and unemployment.”

Findings from the National Conference on Citizenship indicate that joblessness is alleviated in American states and cities “where more people volunteer, register to vote, attend public meetings, and work with neighbors to address community challenges.” Here, majority of volunteers believe that community service and its network-building dynamics can pave the way to finding employment.

So much work remains to be done, however, in public schools as far as imparting civic knowledge. Hopefully, when children would be able to learn more about citizenship, competent enough to exercise their own rights and responsibilities toward others, they would also become wise enough to grin and bear witness to the truth of this irony: “Noah's Ark was built by volunteers. The Titanic was built by professionals.”

(geemyko@gmail.com)