Conservative columnist George Will thinks that volunteers by definition should not be paid. Because, apparently, that would be "Orwellian." In a more generally erroneous column on a wider subject -- see http://www.politifact.com/... -- Will commented in passing on "the Orwellian-named federal program VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America; the 'volunteers' are paid)."
Which leads me to wonder whether Will thinks the United States Armed Forces are "Orwellian," if not in name then in function. Because: 1.) it's an all-volunteer military and 2.) the "volunteers" are paid.
There's nothing particularly inconsistent -- much less "Orwellian" -- about this. Students who are preparing for the world of work often sign on as interns with businesses and other institutions. Some are paid, others are not. All are arguably volunteers in a part-time arrangement, and some are just like those VISTA workers, striking a deal to advance their skills and personal values in exchange for their hard work and a small amount of cash.
A more socially responsible view than implied by Will is that, like all those millions of volunteer enlistees in the American military, other volunteers should be paid, too. Not at all Orwellian is the once-preeminent American principle that an honest day's work deserves an honest day's pay. Will, unfortunately, conflates volunteerism and charity. Sometimes the two overlap strongly, but sometimes they don't.
Seeing as how corporations often, through the tax code, reimburse themselves for their charitable deeds (and sometimes the charitable deeds of their customers), it's hard to see why individual Americans should not likewise enjoy reimbursement without being deemed authoritarian tools, especially not by a columnist who seems increasingly authoritarian.
I was born into US citizenship, but I've volunteered to be an active, sensitive, responsible one. So far, my rewards for that commitment have not been monetary, but I am still richer for the effort. But if I temporarily give up my preferred residency and other opportunities and volunteer to join the army or VISTA, it's hardly a ding on democracy if I'm paid a small amount of money to help offset a small part of my considerable contribution and personal sacrifice.
Or maybe Will as cheap-shot columnist thinks our volunteer soldiers should go into harm's way for free. Consistency surely is a bee-yotch.
I do get what he might consider the distinction: "Volunteer" is in VISTA's name; but our military isn't formally named the United States Volunteer Armed Forces, even though that's what they are in function. Still, a rose by any other name.
The evidence thus suggests George Will -- or maybe it's "Orwill" -- is among those Oscar Wilde-style cynics who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. Volunteerism is priceless to democracy, but that doesn't mean volunteers should never be paid -- as Congress, VISTA and the US military have long affirmed.