In my case I just left a job working with the homeless. The politics never came up, but I was surprised at how the managment was very liberal but those of us who worked hands-on in the shelter were not. I found a lot of common ground with the regular staff, while the volunteers (who came in once a month, twice at most) were uniformly liberal.
I was surprised at how backstabbing the staff was, and a friend with lots of experience told me I shouldn't work in that field because too many people are failures interested in being "heroes" than in DOING something. I was pretty bummed out by the complete lack of solidarity among the staff. I covered mistakes two people made, and what'd they do? They went to the boss and told him *I* made the mistakes.
The new job is perfect for me in many ways--I'll be working with teens, and I respect teens without needing to be their "friend", and somehow that makes them like me more. It's also perfect scheduling for my other activities, so I will be glad to stay for the year, at least.
I mention all this only to respond to your good point about how conservatives get a bum rap in terms of community service. In my experience we're as community-minded as anyone, we just want to take part from our own initiative, not because someone demands we do so.
"In my experience [conservatives are] as community-minded as anyone, we just want to take part from our own initiative, not because someone demands we do so.
Very well said. I've had the exact same experiences in my community volunteer work with the liberal vs. conservative mindset. In my mind, it's all about finding solutions to solve problems, not just "feel good do nothing" platitudes and hand-outs. And it works in all situations, whether you're working with people, animals, nature, etc. :)