The Times They Are A-Changin': Civil-Society Organizations Today

Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.

     When Bob Dylan released these lyrics in 1964, he was speaking of the social transformation that was erupting. In essence, he was speaking of the rise of individuality and the dismantling of the post-WWII honeymoon. Today, as the baby boomers retire, the times are changing again. These individuals took over the civil-society organizations from their parents and preserved solidarity. These organizations give people and society a sense of community, the foundation of belonging. Unfortunately, these organizations are dying. They are dying because of inaction. Who is responsible? I argue that the fault lies not only with my generation, but also my parents’ generation, the generation of contemporary leadership. First, my generation is one of individuals. We would rather start an organization than take over the reins of an archaic body. We want it our way and we want it to benefit us. We want returns, personal not societal. We are dynamic. In contrast, the leading generation is stagnating. They steer inflexible and unwieldy organizations. They preserve the status quo within a confined box. As an enlightened generation who experienced societal unrest and civil-society movements, they don't innovate anymore or accept new ideas. The line of demarcation is clear.

    Of course, these are blatant stereotypes. They represent perception, and in some cases, reality. Perceptions matter. The demise of civil-society organizations is a consequence of asymmetric information, where one party has more or better information than the other. In this case, neither the leading generation nor this generation possesses adequate information. In fact, they possess misinformation, which distorts the commonality of purpose and value which civil-society organizations provide across generations. They are a mechanism for positive social activism and service. The organizations of today possess institutional legitimacy which allows them to function, to raise revenues, and to act as a force within society. Yet, we must remember that they are fungible. They can change and adapt to meet the needs of today's society. They are capable of innovation and of fighting the world's fights whether locally or internationally, now and in the future. They need both generations working together. This synergy is the intrinsic characteristic of such organizations. Diversity can be the strength of the new civil-society, ending generational frictions.  Without intervention by both generations and shared-compromise, our society (I use this term broadly to encompass many societies) will face a crisis of community. The bastions of community will die and we will be left with nothing but individuals, searching for community.