How is it that ARI, which opposes servitude and volunteerism, offers volunteer opportunities?
ARI supports volunteering so long as it is done selfishly and … voluntarily! What ARI repudiates is the mandatory “volunteering” (a contradiction in terms) or “community service” that some schools require of their students as a condition of graduation. Such requirements are meant to instill in young minds a sense of altruistic duty, i.e., unchosen obligation, toward others. The morality of altruism holds that the good consists of service to others—not the pursuit of one’s own values and interests. On this view, a student who miserably dishes out broth in a soup kitchen is morally superior to a student who spends his afternoons studying in the library so that he can one day become a doctor. That is the perverse view ARI opposes. Forced “volunteering” requires that students sacrifice their time and judgment by demanding that they devote time to causes they may not support. In contrast, ARI’s volunteer program is truly voluntary. Our volunteers support our mission and selfishly choose to
