It appears that it will be a circuitous route to the point of this post, so hang on if you dare. It’s going to start out sounding political, but it won’t finish that way. At least, that’s the intention at this moment.

Growing up in the 1950’s and 1960’s, with the news dominated by the Cold War and later, Vietnam, we were taught that democracy was good and its antithesis, communism, was bad. Whether you accept or reject the good and bad labels, it’s still strange that we accepted these concepts as opposites. By definition, a better antonym for democracy would be autocracy (or theocracy, or dictatorship, or monarchy), and the opposing system to communism would be, of course, capitalism. The former terms refer to political systems, the latter to economic ones.

Clearly, then, democracy and communism can co-exist, as there is nothing to prevent a democratic country from electing a communist leader. (Didn’t France do that? What’s the status today in Vietnam?) The fact that capitalism seems to be currently more successful, in many parts of the world, could be significant, or it could be just a historical occurrence that could be reversed. The truth is that even our US system of capitalism has many socialist or communist ingredients in it. What are Social Security and Medicare, and of course Welfare, if not socialist programs? And how about our current medical insurance system, with the premiums being foisted on employers instead of governments? Isn’t insurance really an ultimate socialist product? Hmmm.

The terms themselves do paint a valid picture. The focal points of communism (community) and socialism (society) seem rather friendlier and mutually beneficial to citizens than does that of capitalism (capital, or, if you will allow the extension, greed). So then, how can a system based on greed sustain itself and keep its citizens happy? Well, if indeed it is doing that, it is only possible because at least some of the people with the capital are willing to share their assets and energies with their communities. And that leads us to the long-sought-after point of this post.

Would pure capitalism divest itself of any government-operated social programs? Perhaps. But I believe that the saviors would be those people who are always willing to give something back, either with their checkbooks or their involvement, people who are dedicated to serving their communities in ways that the government cannot or will not.

Rotary International is the world’s oldest and most international service organization, and I am proud to be a Rotarian, and to help to make the world a better place by living Rotary’s motto, “Service Above Self.” Rotary’s secondary motto seems to address the concerns of capitalistic goals within a socially aware body: “They profit most who serve best.” The word “profit” is used not in the cash-in-bank sense, of course, but rather in a moral, life sense.

Rotary clubs around the world are involved in community service projects and international service projects. In some places, those projects provide clean drinking water where previously none was available. In other places, Rotary promotes literacy, builds hospitals, provides children’s playgrounds, and offers countless other humanitarian benefits. Rotary also works in many ways to promote international understanding and peace, through Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholarships, the Rotary World Peace Fellowship program, and its high school exchange program, Rotary Youth Exchange. As my friends all know, it is the latter that has become my passion and the focus of my efforts, as I am now heading up Rotary Youth Exchange for the entire state of Florida.

No matter what your take may be on the politics presented above, it is incumbent upon all of us to make our community and our world a better place, not just for ourselves, not just for our families, but for our fellow man and woman. I would hope that everyone would find their own path to doing that, whether through Rotary or another service organization, or by doing whatever one can do to contribute to human society. And that, my friends, is the bottom line point of today’s post. Thanks for reading.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 7th, 2008 at 11:28 am and is filed under Al. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.