Community service is a part of a healthy person’s livelihood. It should be something he or she does on a regular basis. Ok, no, I’m not talking about public nudity.
The tricky part, however, is all in the motivation. Why should we service our community? There are probably a dozen or more ways to answer the question, from duty to passion to communism to some twisted self-fulfillment.
And in a way, it parallels public nudity. No sane, normal person would go out naked. If you examine the exceptions, there are really two types: mental instability, or because it is the norm. Exhibitionists? They’re crazy. Girls go wild on spring break, nudist beaches, nudist colonies and rural African tribes? That’s just how it works. I suppose the former is a fibby line, but the later is fairly obvious.
If you look around, there are plenty of charitable efforts by normal folks. There are multi-billion dollar charities. We must get something out of it. Perhaps it could be said that people who are compassionate towards the needy are crazy in how they give away what is rightfully theirs freely. It is like the exhibitionist in that regard.
But a community that serves itself publically through a good, healthy, community spirit of service–people who are willing to donate their time, effort, and money to greater causes and serve the needy–can also be a community thing. It makes sense that it is easier and more frequent for a group of people to spend a day build some houses, rather than a few, independent pioneers who tries to do the same. Perhaps amongst other crazy people, you don’t feel so odd thinking like a crazy person?
I wouldn’t know–I am crazy.