Reflection Questions: Chapters 7 & 8

CHAPTER 7: VALUES, WORK, AND FAMILY

"Our most fundamental responsibility as citizens," Loeb writes, "is to love not only our own children, but other people's as well--including children we will never meet, who grow up in situations we'd prefer to ignore." In other words, focusing beyond our families is fundamental to our public lives and commitments. If you repeated this quote in one of your classes, or to a group of your friends hanging out for the weekend, or to your family, what kinds of responses do you think you would receive? How would you interpret their reaction? (You might actually do this as an experiment, rather than trying to imagine what might happen.)

CHAPTER 8: VILLAGE POLITICS

Sections of this chapter deal explicitly with the tension between volunteerism and advocacy, which weaves throughout the book. Our culture encourages students to be volunteers, and many may have had high school volunteer experiences. Although they may feel apprehensive getting out into the community for one-on-one projects, still working with Habitat for Humanity or Boys and Girls Clubs probably won't absolutely terrify them. The harder challenge is for them to address the roots of issues that come up while they are volunteering.

This chapter also addresses the relationship between one-on-one volunteer work and efforts at long-term change. What is the lesson in the story where the Stanford student says he hopes his grandchildren will get to volunteer in the same homeless shelter as he has? What would it take to create a society where people didn't have to sleep in shelters or in the streets? Do you think we could make this happen by the time your grandchildren come along?