... because responding to Anonymous on the previous post made me want to go look up the statistics. According to World Volunteer Web , basing its story on Bureau of Labor Statistics data: The number of Americans who volunteer to mentor students, beautify neighborhoods and pitch in after disasters is at a 30-year high, fueled in part by a boom in teen participation, a new study says. The report by the Corporation for National and Community Service tracked volunteer rates since 1974. It found that more than 1 in 4 adults — or 27 percent — give time to their communities, a jump from a low of 20.4 percent recorded in 1989. Moreover, the same source indicates that volunteerism in America has been steadily rising during Dubya's administration (not that I'm willing to give him any credit for that). The US is also unique relative to the rest of the world, a Japanese expert on volunteerism tells us, both in the generosity with which we give our time and the money: The United States is...