I am forwarding this to the listserv on behalf of Tony West, who is having technical difficulties.
-Wilma ------ Forwarded Message From: Anthony West <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Fri, 05 Oct 2007 23:56:29 -0400 To: Wilma de Soto <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [UC] Interesting item about UC Community Stakeholders in today's UCReview All true, as far as it goes.. A good social worker or a good politician doesn't define a stakeholder by an organization. Some non-organized citizens and neighbors are dynamic social beings in their own way. However, governments by definition are organized, so they have a natural preference for dealing with other organizations. Then unorganized individuals like you may start with a disadvantage of your own choosing. It's not the responsibility of organizations to help non-organized people like you deal with any handicap you dealt yourself by being less organized than they are. E.g., it's not their job to circulate your petition for you. Your remark, "volunteerism is institutionalized (ucd)" makes no sense at all. What does UCD have to do with volunteerism? Its essence is to provide services by paid employees. It does not consist of volunteers and does not organize or coordinate volunteers at any level. These two vastly different bodies are not even apples and oranges; more like fish and fungi. They are symbionts. -- Tony West Ray wrote: > here's the deal: we're all stakeholders. > and we're all free to volunteer and join whatever community group we'd like > (or not), to accomplish whatever we want (or not). we just have to remember > that, volunteerism, like religion, isn't a pre-requisite for being a citizen > (neighbor), nor does it entitle anyone with greater or lesser rights as a citizen > (neighbor). and all this is true even when the volunteerism is institutionalized > (ucd); state religions cannot compete with citizens' rights in a secular > democracy. ------ End of Forwarded Message
