Why don't people do more to help society?

[Calmnesspersonified]

I just went for a walk and it got me thinking about why people don't do more to help society. It's been raging on my local community facebook groups about why the paths aren't gritted (it's been really icy here) but there's no way that the council can do even a tiny percentage of all of them.

I grit my estate every time it's icy and don't understand why more people don't do the same. If everyone just adopted their street and made sure it was gritted in the ice and kept free of litter a huge proportion of the country would be litter free and navigable in the ice. I know that some couldn't get involved e.g. the elderly, people working crazy hours, some disabilities etc but millions more could.

Even if there's no nearby grit bin, a bag of grit doesn't cost a fortune and many people can afford a few pounds (I'm well aware some can't and that's understandable). Litter pickers can be as cheap as £2 and are often available for free from town councils. Sacks often are too.

It doesn't even have to take more than a few minutes. It took about 3 minutes to grit my road this morning. I went to the dentist on Monday and got there 15 minutes early. I picked up half a sack of rubbish outside while I waited (instead of playing on my phone like everyone else in the waiting room).

There's so many ways to help. Listen to readers at a local school, offer to take your neighbours kids/dog for a walk to give them an hour free, volunteer to go into a care home to talk to someone who doesn't get visitors, slip a fiver through the letter box of someone you know is struggling, give a fiver to the food bank, litter pick, grit your road etc. Why don't people do more. People say they don't have time but so many spend hours on their phone or watching TV.

I'm certainly no bloody angel but I couldn't sit back and do nothing to help my town. Why don't people do more?

Why don't people do more to help society? Because it's a thankless task. And you can get taken for granted pretty quickly.

Sometimes I do things - spread grit or salt or pick up litter as well as other things- but only when I can really spare the time. Other times I don't. I try to he the someone we all think of when we think "someone should do something about that".

Other times I don't because i don't have the time or motivation. I don't judge others for not doing stuff.

Let's hope all your friends are the sort who would sniffer as well. Because this comment makes your world sound so shallow boring and unenlightened.

Our council does manage to grit all the pavements. Not sure why your can't .

My council tax paid and someone else has a paid job - win win

Strumpert you do get bonus points here though for the magnificent introduction of the word ‘oxtercogging’

I get and only get a Saturday afternoon and a Sunday day off.

I'm at a meeting at 7 tomorrow night that I have to prep for (in the chair).

Then I have papers to prepare for another meeting on Tuesday, and another one on Thursday.

And next Saturday morning will be spent working on something I worked on this morning.

In between my proper job, a professional qualification AND being disabled and having autism and ADHD.

stick a broom up my arse and I'll brush the floor while I'm at it.

I give, on average, 10 hours a week pro bono. I'm not doing any more than I already am

OP, you sound a bit smug and self congratulatory. It's great that you so stuff to contribute, but there is no reason to shout about it.

You don't necessarily have any idea what other people around you may or may not be doing to contribute to society. Personally, I do quite a lot but I don't feel the need to make a big song and dance about it.

I should just point out that the litter picking and gritting were just examples. There are so many ways to help but this thread just proves so many people just make excuses not to help. So sad. And they'll be raising their kids to not help out either.

My kids also volunteer by the way.

And there's more to volunteering than physically picking up litter or shovelling grit.

And I said litter picking and gritting were examples. You're now going out of your way to disagree with me for the sake of it.

Maybe you should retire your judgey pants.

You know nothing about how I raise my children because the only thing you know about me is I’ve said my life is very full on and what little time I get, I don’t want to give up.

My son actually volunteers on a mental health helpline because he wants to and has a lot less going on in life than I do, you know with only being at college about 15 hours a week, not having a huge plot of land to maintain, multiple animals and an autistic child, like his mum does.

Judging people on very little knowledge isn’t a nice trait and all the volunteer work in the world doesn’t make a you a nice person if you’re judging others without knowing the pressures they face. Continue with your virtue signalling though.

If I was smug and self congratulatory I would tell people in real life about how much volunteering I do rather than talk about society on an anonymous forum.

you have not answered my questions OP?

How about some of the tax I pay is used to employ people to clear the streets of ice and lift the litter?

Radical I know.

I would grit the road if the council would give us a grit bin - but they won't , in spite of the fact there's a 90° turn on a hill into our street.
If I were to venture out to buy grit as you suggest then that's a 10 mile trip on icy (and this week seemingly ungritted main A roads) in order to buy grit.

We do however have a team of volunteer litter pickers in the village. I just wish someone would educate/fine the idiots who keep dropping the litter though. I have also been part of the volunteer team but not at present as i/hubby do other voluntary activities.

I agree that people should stop moaning on local Facebook pages though - most of them are clueless about how public services work and are funded - or indeed which bits are the responsibility of the public sector. The "I pay my council tax" brigade are the most annoying.

I agree OP. I've always volunteered in some capacity. I'm very busy with work, studying and raising a child single handed but I still make an effort to do something to benefit society. I volunteer and donate to the food bank.

I struggle to understand why most people don't do anything at all other than chuck a quid in the charity box for the annual work cake sale.

We're so individualistic now. Most of my friends work full time and any spare time is spent socialising and having a good time. They don't so much as pick a crisp packet up, never mind volunteer an hour a week for a good cause or help a neighbour.

I'm not saying every spare moment should be spent martyring yourself but the odd hour here and there isn't too much.

We all have a responsibility to make the world a better place.

No I don't do those things. I do multiple lots of other volunteering through. Yours are examples and so are mine. I was in no way saying one type of volunteering is better than any other.

Well said.

Some of it is.

So the OP isn't aimed at you @strumpert given you already volunteer and your kids help out in the community too. The OP is aimed at people who do nothing.

I totally agree with @Calmnesspersonified . There's a litter picking group in my community that meet every 3rd Saturday and do a huge clean up. I can never go due to work but they've inspired me to clean the Green in front of my house, where my kids play. It takes me maybe 15 minutes every 2 weeks or so.

I don't believe any abled bodied person who says they don't have 7 minutes in a week to do something simple like pick up a bit of rubbish.

And it's not a competition, obviously the Scout leader who gives10 hours a week does more than me but that doesn't mean i can't do my 7 minutes and still make a small difference.

I don't grit the roads but I do volunteer on a crisis helpline and also volunteer in bereavement support. If you can't grit the roads, that's fine. It's about finding something you can do. Something small perhaps but something that makes lofe a bit nicer, a bit easier for other people.

Thank you.

Thank you

🙄 would that be before or after you drop your litter?
Fine if you don't want to but it's nasty to laugh at someone doing something nice

11 billion hours of unpaid Labour is done a day by women - most of the world's unpaid work is done by women. We are just expected to provide our time for schools (PTA, reading, uniform sales), charity shops, charity runs, helping neighbours, babysitting for friends, caring for elders, running toddler groups, fundraising for sports and play facilities, foodbank donations. This is in addition to our own childcare responsibilities, paid work and housework. Even when we retire, men play golf, women volunteer. Enough.

The more free labour we provide the less governments and councils will fund. By volunteering you are also doing a paid person out of job. In this country we need to volunteer less, not more and start putting pressure on local government to professionalise services. If nothing else it's really bad economics.

I live in Spain. My street is washed every single day. My bins are emptied twice a day. I pay a lot of tax bit get excellent services. Britain is broken.

This is such a weird thread. The world literally runs on people helping each other out and filling in the gaps in society - neighbours cooking/shopping for the elderly, volunteers working in charity shops, friends offering babysitting, retirees marshalling clinics/events etc, local cafes donating spare food to people who need it...you've just picked a couple of examples that are currently annoying you, OP, but that doesn't mean that people don't help each other all the time. Of course not every single person does as much as every other, but the world is full of small kindnesses and altruism, but you might not know about all of it.