Voluntary Virtue’s Autonomous Humanitarianism Goodness
The concept of Random Acts of Kindness has swept the world. Here at Voluntary Virtue, we were curious, what if we could help encourage others to autonomously commit to a lifestyle of humanitarian benevolence? Rather than waiting for the state or for bureaucratic organizations to solve problems, what if we asked ourselves, “What can I do right now to be a better critter?” Could we motivate and empower others to step up their game?
This project is not tied to the most basic needs on Maslow’s list, rather it is about those tiny things that could make a difference in someone else’s life.
A recent example came about was when a board member posted his Amazon Alexa for sale on social media. A woman said that she wanted to buy it, but was tardy in picking it up from the seller’s porch as arranged. The seller reminded her, and she said she would pick it up. Nothing. A week later the seller again reminded her, and she responded that she would not be able to get it, her new baby was on oxygen and she had to focus on her baby, quite the unfortunate turn of events. Our board member put out a call for help, and a long-time friend who lives near the woman (60 miles away) agreed to transport the Alexa. Our board member gave it to the woman for free.
Will this conspiracy between two voluntaryists to give the woman a gift of music change the world? Of course not, but we bet it “made her week.” This must be a very scary time for her, and to see that others care? This act of Autonomous Humanitarianism Goodness just might have given her the strength to keep marching forward at a very difficult time of her life.
Another recent example was when a board member was sitting at a traffic light on his motorcycle, and another vehicle that was turning accidentally dumped a bag full of debris onto the roadway. Our member jumped off of his motorcycle and tossed the bag off of the roadway. This likely prevented traffic jams and maybe even a fender-bender. Again, this was not a world-changing action, just a spontaneous autonomous act of humanitarian goodness.
This project is not aimed only at principled libertarians, it is for voluntary volunteers with a wide range of worldviews. We like the idea of all people doing nice things, even if their day job is as a meth-chef, politician, or tax collector. What can VV do to help lead others to commit these autonomous humanitarian random acts of goodness? We are working on it!
Let’s do more good for our fellow humans who choose to act voluntarily, shall we?
