The glue of society

摘要

On christmas day 2004, Rick Warren, the pastor of Saddleback church in southern California, got a telephone call from Thailand. The caller, a pastor whom Mr Warren had trained, said a tsunami had just been reported and many people would need help. Before the tsunami had even struck Sri Lanka, Mr Warren was calling a vast network of churches in South-East Asia who got parishioners to safety, and e-mailing an even vaster network of clubs in southern California. Thousands of volunteers went into action overnight. Within a day, food and medicine worth millions of dollars were winging their way from a single church to the disaster-hit regions. This was American civic volunteer-ism in action, updated for the 21st century. Voluntary associations have been the secret ingredient of American social dynamism since the country's foundation. "Americans of all ages", wrote Alexis de Tocqueville, "are forever forming associations." By connecting people to their neighbours and to the wider world, argued de Tocqueville, civic associations made Americans better informed, safer, richer and better able to govern them- selves and create a just and stable society. They developed to provide something for everyone: fraternal bodies such as the Ki-wanis and Elks for men, cross-class federations such as the League of Women Voters for women, scouts and girl guides for boys and girls. There were farmers' groups, industrial unions and associations of Elvis impersonators. If the great sorting-out is pulling social bonds apart, then Americans' love of clubs seems the most likely glue to put them back together again.