In our opinion: The strength of America is in its civil society, not government

The 2020 presidential election is only just heating up as candidates begin making sweeping promises — often at an enormous cost to taxpayers. Amid debates over "Medicare for all" or ambitious green initiatives, candidates must remember the true strength of the country lies not in government involvement but in boosting social capital and maintaining a strong civil society.

That's not to say government is irrelevant. Indeed, the public sector combines with the private sector and civil society to make up the three segments necessary for a properly functioning free country. But focusing too much on government's role distracts from the invaluable good ordinary citizens can do outside the walls of Washington.

Manifestations of a civil society are abundant: Parent-teacher associations that advocate for better schools, food banks to help the needy, toy drives for disadvantaged children at Christmas, groups that make blankets for children's hospitals, organizations that support scholarship funds for students who may otherwise not have an opportunity for higher education.

Religious institutions also function as strong facilitators in civil society. Author Timothy P. Carney explains, "Churches teach their followers to live out their faith by serving their neighbors, and they provide the safety net and sense of purpose that only tight-knit communities can provide."

Deseret News reporter Tad Walch and photographer Jeffery Allred recently captured that safety net in action during a visit to the southern border. Various churches and religious leaders in Arizona have formed an effective rest stop for asylum seekers who don't have a place to stay while their claims get processed. Government infrastructure is overloaded, and these legal migrants would have nowhere to go without strong community involvement.

Similarly, churches have long been both physical shelters and spiritual havens for those caught in disaster's wake. Religious organizations often arrive on the scene of a natural disaster before government agencies, and they are better positioned to understand the immediate needs of the community they live in.

Churches are by no means the only vehicle people can use to serve and otherwise help their community and its members, but what these groups have in common is they fill glaring humanitarian gaps that government has either been slow to fill or where Washington's bureaucracy has proven ineffective.

And the country needs more, not less, of this social capital — people serving together, dropping their differences and improving the lives of their neighbors in tangible ways.

As the cacophony surrounding the presidential election increases, it would be well for candidates and voters to remember the message of President John F. Kennedy's inaugural address: "Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country."

The task for candidates entering the race is to ask what they can do to bolster civil society and utilize — not squander — social capital.

Government is meant to be only a servant of the people to care for certain of the country's needs. The real strength of the nation lies in the potential for 325 million Americans to voluntarily serve one another without mandates or bloated budgets.

from Deseret News https://ift.tt/2Nwxt3E