‘If everything costs money there will come a time when nothing is affordable.’
This statement, said to me by an artist several years ago, has played in my mind on many occasions and sometimes resonates with the things people say in discussions on economics and society. In particular one comment that society itself functions because of the things people do for free. All those social gatherings, all those hours working for charity, the running about for family and friends, all these things for which we make no charge are actually the reason why society continues to function. Take them away, or make them chargeable, and all the commercial activity will founder.
I wonder if this is true, because I would like it to be true. it certainly supports my thesis about money and finances. Whilst we can see ‘gifts’ can get a nation started by lifting it from poverty, and energising the populace to economic activity, it is far harder to see if the volunteer sector is so crucial to well embedded economies. What we could obviously say is that if there were no volunteers a huge amount of social activity would have to be paid for or cease.
Perhaps the loss would unsettle our psyches and in that way be detrimental to everything else we do? Perhaps volunteering stems attacks of loneliness in the general population? Who knows, but wouldn’t you want to find out?