A Thousand Points of Light
"They think you will follow the stars."
Do you this phrase was a reference to only Hollywood stars? Or could it also mean a different type of star altogether?
A ‘chosen few’ disappear behind the veil and become one of the “Thousand Points of Light,” or more properly known as the “Magi.”
— Bill Cooper
The Antediluvian Era
In order to understand what I am talking about, you have to understand what Gnostic theology teaches. This isn't what I believe. However, it is the understanding of the basic principles which will allow us to explore the source of current political policy and actions.
To do this, we have to go back in history. Way back to the beginning. To a time before the flood and the story of Noah. Or at least the history that is taught about this time. This time period is often referred to as the Antediluvian Era.
Although this is a bit hard to read without reading the beginning of this book for context, this is a quote from The Genesis 6 Conspiracy: How Secret Societies and the Descendants of Giants Plan to Enslave Humankind by Gary Wayne:
According to Gnostic theology, when Eve and then Adam ate of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, they ate the beautiful fruit of gnosis, or knowledge. According to Pike, Adonai was an evil demon, forbidding Adam to eat of the fruit of knowledge, but Adam obeyed an angel of light (Lucifer) and ate from (the good side of) the tree. St. Iraneous professed in Gnostic literature that Wisdom (Sophia/mother of Ialdaboth) cunningly led Eve away from Ialdaboth via the Snake, whence both Adam and Eve then became acquainted (all knowing/gnosis) with the power superior to all and then rebelled away from Ialdoboth. Hancock and Bauval note The Nag Hammadi Texts depict the serpent as a hero and a benefactor to humankind, for after Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge, they awakened to their luminous nature. Adam and Eve then became like gods, knowing both good and evil and the seven spurious sciences.
As a result, Adam’s descendants achieved very high levels of knowledge, even to the point of manipulating the antediluvian physical world with clever machines and devices, whereupon Demiurge intervened once more with the flood to restrict human potential. Hence, the flood was designed to punish humanity for having risen so high; it was designed to remove the light (knowledge) from among humankind. Survivors were then thrown into toil to survive, but some fortunately maintained the antediluvian knowledge to benefit a future generation, when a general awakening will once more occur via A Thousand Points of Light.
Satan, then, is believed to be the great emancipator of Adam and Eve, freeing them from the bonds of ignorance. Gnostics additionally believe each person of a specific race contains within his or herself a hidden seed of the divine that is crying to be released from its prison, the person’s body, so that it can reside in its natural home, the spirit world of the gods. This hidden seed is the power stolen by Ialdoboth that Zoë, and supposedly the Holy Spirit, are assisting the Gnostic race in collecting. This is the spirit of globalization, which will join the collective seeds of the divine, enabling discriminating elite to vibrate into godhood. From the descendants from the antediluvian Gnostic Sethite sect, according to Gnostic expert Bentley Layton, springs a “race” (the descendants of Nephilim, Rex Deus bloodlines, Gnostics, and Theosophists) — a race where the so-called seeds (Point of Light) lie hidden, waiting to be freed.
The Gnostic/New Age church claims to be the heavenly posterity on earth tracing back to Seth.
Note the sentence with the phrase "Thousand Points of Light." The general awakening that is being discussed from The Genesis 6 Conspiracy isn't a reference to the Great Awakening.
The Great Awakening refers to a time period when American went through a great spiritual revival between the 18th and 20th centuries. These were periods of time where Christians pulled away from the ceremonies and rituals of the church and returned to a personal relationship with God.
There have been 4 Great Awakenings during this time period:
First c. 1730–1755
Second c. 1790–1840
Third c. 1855–1930
Fourth c. 1960–1980
Most people use the term Great Awakening and refer to a revelation of truth and an exposure of all the lies. In part, they are right. It is a revelation of great truth. It refers to the only truth that matters — the return of a nation to God. The great deception or lie that is exposed is the lies of man and Satan, the deceiver.
The Light of Freemasonry
Why does Freemasonry direct its members skywards? By contemplating the heavenly bodies, Masons connect to divine principles and the Great Architect of the Universe. The stars represent the source of illumination guiding the way as Masons seek truth and light. And they look to the first Entered Apprentice, Adam, the first of man, as the example with a culmination of the light of knowledge coming to a head at the Tower of Babel.
At Babel, Oliver says that what has been called Spurious Freemasonry took its origin. That is to say, the people there abandoned the worship of the true God, and by their dispersion lost all knowledge of his existence, and of the principles of truth upon which Masonry is founded. Hence it is that the rituals speak of the lofty tower of Babel as the place where language was confounded and Masonry lost.
Internet Archive: Encyclopedia of Freemasonry Volumes 1 and 2 (1914) by Albert G Mackey
And then once again, it came to a head and culminated in the Great Deluge, or Flood.
Light is an important word in the Masonic system. It conveys a far more recondite meaning than it is believed to possess by the generality of readers. It is in fact the first of all the symbols presented to the neophyte, and continues to be presented to him in various modifications throughout all his future progress in his Masonic career. It does not simply mean, as might be supposed, truth or wisdom, but it contains within itself a far more abstruse allusion to the very essence of Speculative Masonry, and embraces within its capacious signification all the other symbols of the Order. Freemasons are emphatically called the ‘‘sons of light,’’ because they are, or at least are entitled to be, in possession of the true meaning of the symbol; while the profane or uninitiated who have not received this knowledge are, by a parity of expression, said to be in darkness.
The connection of material light with this emblematic and mental illumination, was prominently exhibited in all the ancient systems of religion and esoteric mysteries.
Among the Egyptians, the hare was the hieroglyphic of eyes that are open, because that animal was supposed to have his eyes always open. The priests afterward adopted the hare as the symbol of the moral illumination revealed to the neophytes in the contemplation of the Divine truth, and hence, according to Champollion, it was also the symbol of Osiris, their principal divinity, and the chief object of their mystic rites—thus showing the intimate connection that they maintained in their symbolic language between the process of initiation and the contemplation of divinity.
If we proceed to an examination of the other systems of religion which were practiced by the nations of antiquity, we shall find that light always constituted a principal object of adoration, as the primordial source of knowledge and goodness, and that darkness was with them synonymous with ignorance and evil.
Internet Archive: Encyclopedia of Freemasonry Volumes 1 and 2 (1914) by Albert G Mackey
Adam was the first man to receive knowledge when he ate of the fruit. And what is the purpose of a Freemason? To labor. To work.
“Labor,” says Gidicke, “‘is an important word in Masonry; indeed, we might say the most important. For this, and this alone, does a man become a Freemason. Every other object is secondary or incidental. Labor is the accustomed design of every Lodge meeting. But do such meetings always furnish evidence of industry? The labor of an Operative Mason will be visible, and he will receive his reward for it, even though the building he has constructed may, in the next hour, be overthrown by a tempest. He knows that he has done his labor. And so must the Freemason labor. His labor must be visible to himself and to his brethren, or, at least, it must conduce to his own internal satisfaction. As we build neither a visible Solomonic Temple nor an Egyptian pyramid, our industry must become visible in works that are imperishable, so that when we vanish from the eyes of mortals it may be said of us that our labor was well done.’”?
Internet Archive: Encyclopedia of Freemasonry Volumes 1 and 2 (1914) by Albert G Mackey
What might such an industry and such work look like? Labor implies a plan and an end goal. What is that end goal? To build neither a visible Temple of Solomon nor a visible Egyptian pyramid. But to create works that are imperishable.
At their highest level their goal is to create a world in which the adepts, the Thousand Points of Light, working behind the veil to create the culmination of the Great Plan, can realize the ultimate happiness for mankind. That's why they don't oppose pornography. That's why they don't oppose certain crimes.
— Bill Cooper
The Light of a New Spiritual World Order
If you haven't read my dig on Lucis Trust, Theosophy, Alice Anne Bailey and its connections to the United Nations, you might want to read it here.
In summary, Alice Anne Bailey is one of the founders of the New Age philosophy. These ideals came about through the Theosophy Society and later Lucifer Publishing Company (which became known as Lucis Trust) and the Arcane School. Lucis Trust is tied to the United Nations and helped development the Sustainable Development Goals, which is a reflection of its own belief system and philosophies.
Lucifer, according to their own teachings, refers to light or knowledge. As part of their philosophy, Lucis Trust's Arcane School encourages its students to engage in a service to humanity and the planet. What does this service look like? Service is done through global initiatives, like those which support the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals.
As I mentioned before, Lucis Trust has ties to and works with the United Nations. Pay particular attention to the mention of non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
The Lucis Trust has Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC) and World Goodwill is recognized by the Department of Global Communications at the United Nations as a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO). As such the Trust and World Goodwill are part of a community of many hundreds of NGOs that play an active role in the United Nations, particularly in spreading information about the UN and fostering support for UN programs. Since their inception Lucis Trust and World Goodwill have given their support through meditation, educational materials and seminars, by highlighting the importance of the UN's goals and activities as they represent the voice of the peoples and nations of the world.
In fact, in 1932 Alice Anne Bailey started its World Goodwill programs. Once again, we see the mention of the phrase non-governmental organizations.
Alongside countless other groups, World Goodwill is an accredited Nongovernmental Organization with the Department of Public Information at the United Nations. It maintains informal relations with a wide range of national and international nongovernmental organizations. The Lucis Trust is on the Roster of the United Nations Economic and Social Council. World Goodwill strongly believes that the UN should be supported as the main hope for humanity’s future.
If you are thinking this is sounding much like the Freemason philosophy, you would not be wrong. Alice Anne Bailey's husband, and the co-founder of Lucis Trust, was a Freemason. Also, another associate of Bailey's as well as the founder of the Theosophical Society was Madam Blavatsky. The story told is that she started her own spiritual journey and the Theosophical Society after finding and reading her great-grandfather's esoteric Freemasonry books.
You can see the influence of Lucis Trust in the United Nations in that the United Nations began its own Goodwill Programs called the United Nations Goodwill Ambassadors and Messengers of Peace.
United Nations Goodwill Ambassadors and Messengers of Peace are distinguished individuals, carefully selected from the fields of art, literature, science, entertainment, sports or other fields of public life, who have agreed to help focus worldwide attention on the work of the United Nations. Backed by the highest honour bestowed by the Secretary-General on a global citizen, these prominent personalities volunteer their time, talent and passion to raise awareness of United Nations efforts to improve the lives of billions of people everywhere.
The Thousand Points of Light
On August 18, 1988, George H. W. Bush gave a speech at the Republican National Committee when he was accepted as the Republican presidential nomination. In this speech, he alludes to Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) when he mentions the different communities.
George H. W. Bush does something else. He mentions a list of organizations. Some of those organizations are fraternal orders or secret societies. He then goes on to mention for the first time during this speech the Thousand Points of Light.
And there is another tradition. And that is the idea of community - a beautiful word with a big meaning. Though liberal democrats have an odd view of it. They see "community" as a limited cluster of interest groups, locked in odd conformity. In this view, the country waits passive while Washington sets the rules.
But that's not what community means - not to me.
For we are a nation of communities, of thousands and tens of thousands of ethnic, religious, social, business, labor union, neighborhood, regional and other organizations, all of them varied, voluntary and unique.
This is America: the Knights of Columbus, the Grange, Hadassah, the Disabled American Veterans, the Order of Ahepa, the Business and Professional Women of America, the union hall, the Bible study group, LULAC, "Holy Name" - a brilliant diversity spread like stars, like a thousand points of light in a broad and peaceful sky.
Does government have a place? Yes. Government is part of the nation of communities - not the whole, just a part.
I do not hate government. A government that remembers that the people are its master is a good and needed thing.
I respect old fashioned common sense, and have no great love for the imaginings of social planners. I like what's been tested and found to be true.
George H. W. Bush, August 18, 1988, Acceptance Speech at the Republican National Convention
George H. W. Bush then mentions the Thousand Points of Light towards the end of his speech in connection to America's forward movement.
A President must be many things.
He must be a shrewd protector of America's interests; And he must be an idealist who leads those who move for a freer and more democratic planet.
He must see to it that government intrudes as little as possible in the lives of the people; and yet remember that it is the nation's character.
And he must be able to define - and lead - a mission.
For seven and a half years I have worked with a President - and I have seen what crosses that big desk. I have seen the unexpected crisis that arrive in a cable in a young aide's hand. And I have seen problems that simmer on for decades and suddenly demand resolution. I have seen modest decisions made with anguish, and crucial decisions made with dispatch.
And so I know that what it all comes down to, this election - what it all comes down to, after all the shouting and the cheers - is the man at the desk.
My friends, I am that man.
I say it without boast or bravado, I've fought for my country, I've served, I've built - and I will go from the hills to the hollows, from the cities to the suburbs to the loneliest town on the quietest street to take our message of hope and growth for every American to every American.
I will keep America moving forward, always forward - for a better America, for an endless enduring dream and a thousand points of light.
This is my mission and I will complete it.
George H. W. Bush, August 18, 1988, Acceptance Speech at the Republican National Convention
George H. W. Bush won the presidency on January 20, 1989. On this day, he gave his Inaugural Address. During this speech, we see ideas which aren't too far off from the mystery religion taught in Freemasonry or the philosophies taught in Theosophy.
America is never wholly herself unless she is engaged in high moral principle. We as a people have such a purpose today. It is to make kinder the face of the Nation and gentler the face of the world. My friends, we have work to do. There are the homeless, lost and roaming. There are the children who have nothing, no love and no normalcy. There are those who cannot free themselves of enslavement to whatever addiction—drugs, welfare, the demoralization that rules the slums. There is crime to be conquered, the rough crime of the streets. There are young women to be helped who are about to become mothers of children they can't care for and might not love. They need our care, our guidance, and our education, though we bless them for choosing life.
The old solution, the old way, was to think that public money alone could end these problems. But we have learned that that is not so. And in any case, our funds are low. We have a deficit to bring down. We have more will than wallet, but will is what we need. We will make the hard choices, looking at what we have and perhaps allocating it differently, making our decisions based on honest need and prudent safety. And then we will do the wisest thing of all. We will turn to the only resource we have that in times of need always grows: the goodness and the courage of the American people.
And I am speaking of a new engagement in the lives of others, a new activism, hands-on and involved, that gets the job done. We must bring in the generations, harnessing the unused talent of the elderly and the unfocused energy of the young. For not only leadership is passed from generation to generation but so is stewardship. And the generation born after the Second World War has come of age.
I have spoken of a Thousand Points of Light, of all the community organizations that are spread like stars throughout the Nation, doing good. We will work hand in hand, encouraging, sometimes leading, sometimes being led, rewarding. We will work on this in the White House, in the Cabinet agencies. I will go to the people and the programs that are the brighter points of light, and I'll ask every member of my government to become involved. The old ideas are new again because they're not old, they are timeless: duty, sacrifice, commitment, and a patriotism that finds its expression in taking part and pitching in.
Was George H. W. Bush a Freemason? There have been many conspiracies which will tell you that he was. I have no proof that he was. However, he was a member of a Yale secret society called the Skull and Bones. This is a rather well known fact.
I am including a few articles regarding this here if you wish to read further on this particular topic.
The Midnight Freemason: George W. Bush: Freemason Or Not?
Freemason Community: The Application of the Skull and Crossbones Symbol in Freemasonry
The Mystery of Light
A friend of mine received the book Letters to Trump by Donald J. Trump this past Christmas. In its pages, he found this reference.
From the Letters to Trump:
President George H. W. Bush
I always felt that George Bush the elder could have pushed the envelope a little bit further and a little bit stronger. The Bush family and I didn't get along well, to put it mildly — they seemed to be a much different type. I helped George H. W. Bush with his campaign and did a really good job for him. It was never appreciated, unfortunately, and that's alright.
I learned much when he made his famous statement "Read my lips, no new taxes"... and then almost immediately raised taxes. That didn't work out too well.
Almost as bad, was when he kept talking about "A Thousand Points of Light," and nobody really knew what the hell he was talking about. What did it all mean?
Biography: George H. W. Bush was the 41st President of the United States 1989-1993). He previously served as Vice President under President Ronald Reagan.
This wasn't the only place that President Trump mentioned George H. W. Bush and his the phrase "Thousand Points of Light." During President Trump's Montana Rally, he made another mention of it.
From President Trump's speech:
We are finally putting America first. We are putting America first.
And by the way, you know all the rhetoric you see here, the Thousand Points of Light. What the hell was that by the way? Thousand Points of Light. What did that mean? Does anyone know?
I know one thing. Make America Great Again, we understand. Putting America first, we understand. Thousand Points of Light, I never quite got that one. What the hell is that? Has anyone ever figured that one out? And it was put out by a Republican, wasn't it?
What The Hell Is That?
Thousand Points of Light, I never quite got that one. What the hell is that? Has anyone ever figured that one out?
— President Donald J. Trump
In 1990, President George H. W. Bush spearheaded the creation of the Thousand Points of Light Foundation. This was an international nonprofit organization headquartered in the state of Georgia. The Thousand Points of Light Foundation was renamed shortly after to the Points of Light Foundation.
We have within our reach the promise of a renewed America. We can find meaning and reward by serving some higher purpose than ourselves, a shining purpose, the illumination of a Thousand Points of Light. And it is expressed by all who know the irresistible force of a child's hand, of a friend who stands by you and stays there, a volunteer's generous gesture, an idea that is simply right.
Miller Center: George H. W. Bush, January 29, 1991: State of the Union Address
The Death of Volunteerism
From the onset, the Points of Light Foundation had a political agenda undertone. This led to the death of several community volunteer organizations.
Meanwhile, in 1992 under the first Bush Administration, the Points of Light Foundation was born. Despite protests to the contrary, it had political roots and acted as if it invented volunteering. The first material produced by Points of Light Foundation totally ignored the existence of any other national or local resources, including volunteer centers. In fact, they encouraged individuals to “become a point of light by finding people in your community who want to make a difference.”
Energize Inc: Historical Context of the Merger Between POL and HO
George Romney, father of Mitt Romney and the former US Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Nixon, was tapped to become the chair and CEO of Points of Light Foundation. There was just one problem. He was already the chair and CEO of another volunteer organization and had been holding that position since 1973.
George Romney was tapped to chair Points of Light Foundation but he was already deeply involved on the board of The National Volunteer Center. Legend has it that he announced one day that he would not fundraise for two organizations and insisted that they merge. Six months later they did. No one in the field was consulted. It just happened. And the new entity took the name Points of Light.
Energize Inc: Historical Context of the Merger Between POL and HO
This wasn't the first time this happened either. George Romney became the chair and CEO of the National Center for Voluntary Action in 1973. In 1979, the National Center for Voluntary Action merged with the National Information Center on Volunteerism. Once merged, the two organizations became known as VOLUNTEER: The National Center for Citizen Involvement.
So with this new merger the Points of Light Foundation inherited several voluntary organizations under its name.
Suddenly, Points of Light Foundation inherited a number of ongoing projects from its predecessor, including:
The National Volunteer Center Network
The Council on Workplace Volunteering
National Volunteer Week
The President’s Service Awards (different from the Point of Light daily award)
Voluntary Action Leadership magazine (now Volunteer Leadership)
The annual Conference on Volunteering, usually held in June
Energize Inc: Historical Context of the Merger Between POL and HO
In 1992, a similar foundation was formed but with a vastly different approach and strategy. This was the Hands On Network. Originally named City Cares, it changed its name to Hands On Network in 2004. The premise of this organization was to build a network of volunteer organizations and to connect volunteers with nonprofit organizations. In 2007, negotiations were started between the Hands On Network and Points of Light Foundation.
Shawn Reifsteck, President of Hands On Network (HON) in Atlanta put down the phone in May, 2007 with a feeling of foreboding. He and Doug Gledhill, Chief Financial Officer of Points of Light Foundation (POLF) in Washington D.C. had just had a conversation that signaled eleventh-hour challenges to the negotiations between their two national volunteer networks. Despite careful work by the board members and leadership staff of the two organizations, and with support from an expert team of merger consultants, the two groups were just now confronting what was turning out to be a crisis in trust and a challenge regarding resources. Shawn knew he needed to share the message with Hands On Network’s CEO, Michelle Nunn. And he knew that it was critical that the issue that had been raised be addressed immediately, and appropriately.
Internet Archive: Getting to Yes: The Points of Light and Hands On Network Merger
And so, in 2007 the Hands On Network and the Points of Light Foundation merged and became the Points of Light Institute. It would be renamed once again in 2011 to simply Points of Light. The end result of this merger, though, was to create one large national organization with local affiliates focused on volunteering and service. This organization would have the full backing of the federal government under a federal agency called the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), which was created by the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993. You might know the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) by another name — AmeriCorps.
From its website:
Our Mission & Vision
The Points of Light mission is to inspire, equip and mobilize people to take action that changes the world. We envision a world in which everyone discovers the power to make a difference, creating healthy communities in vibrant, participatory societies.
We envision a society where it is easy for every person to drive change in their community, and in the world. We will be a cultural catalyst, working in partnership with organizations and individuals to build a society where it is impossible to sit on the sidelines. We’ll define a new kind of volunteerism for the 21st century, one that calls on people to give their time, talents, voice and resources in service to build a brighter future for all.
From Charity Navigator:
Points of Light is the world's largest organization dedicated to volunteer service. Our mission is to Inspire, Equip, and Mobilize people to take action that changes the world. We envision a world in which everyone discovers the power to make a difference, creating healthy communities in vibrant, participatory societies.
Points of Light operates with a network of innovative volunteer-mobilizing organizations located in more than 200 cities and 37 countries around the world. Together we enable more people to use their time, talent, voice and resources to create positive change in their communities. We are offering creative and impactful ways for people to take action to solve problems.
What does this volunteer service look like? Well, with little to no Congressional oversight to speak of and no board of directors or shareholders to report to, it looks like this. In 2018, a scathing article by the Los Angeles Times was published regarding an investigation into Points of Light.
In 1990, while declaring that solutions to some of the nation’s most vexing problems lay in the hands of ordinary citizens and organizations — and not huge government bureaucracies — Mr. Bush launched a private, nonprofit foundation to motivate every American to engage in community service.
“Points of Light,” beamed a White House news release, “are the only solution to our social problems.”
Today, the lone remnant of the Bush initiative has the look of a wasteful, Washington-dependent operation. So far, the Points of Light Foundation has received $26.6 million in federal funds — more than half its budget — while incurring a wide range of costs that amount to questionable spending, experts in the volunteer industry said.
An examination of financial records by the Los Angeles Times shows that $22.3 million has been spent on glitzy promotions, consultants, salaries, travel and conferences. The expenses include $5.5 million to produce a television advertising campaign and $1.4 million for a celebration of community service.
By contrast, only 11 percent of the foundation’s budget has been spent to provide grants to volunteer efforts across the country.
Internet Archive: Los Angeles Times: Bush-Inspired Charity A Dim Point Of Light
The Great Flood of the NGOs
Beyond wasteful spending, other criticisms over Points of Light sound much like this, which leads me to question if it is a charity based on volunteerism or an organization based on political agendas. The below talks about AmeriCares. However, at some point, the two agendas intertwined. Points of Light became an extension of AmeriCares when it fell under the umbrella and federal funding of the National and Community Service (CNCS).
Time, The Atlantic, and a multitude of other publications joined the chorus. Not one of them bothered to take a deeper look at AmeriCares.
If they had, they might have noticed the disturbing way in which AmeriCares resembles a private foreign-policy operation of the U.S. government, and an agent abroad for some of America’s most powerful corporations. A six-month Voice investigation of the places AmeriCares goes, the type of aid it provides, and the players involved has raised questions as to the group’s ultimate agenda. Its founder, advisory committee, and benefactors are an unlikely bunch to be running a charity: They are almost exclusively powerful right-wingers with close ties to the intelligence community, president and ex-CIA director George Bush, and the most conservative elements of the Catholic church. They have been variously associated with coups, covert actions, military counterinsurgency operations, and groups dedicated to fighting reformist and progressive movements throughout the world.
It wasn't just political agendas AmeriCares and Points of Light were fulfilling. It was also their corporate donors' agendas.
The New Canaan, Connecticut, group’s proclaimed mission is to deliver medical supplies to needy people. But sometimes, it seems more interested in the needs of its corporate donors, many of whom give the charity unpopular or soon-to-expire medicines for which they get hefty tax write-offs. In one case, AmeriCares shipped more than one million doses of vaccine for haemophilus influenza-B to the Philippines on a U.S. Air Force plane. The vaccine’s distributor had first offered it to another relief organization, which turned it down after consulting with the Centers for Disease Control.
In the Philippines, though, the vaccine was angrily rejected. “We concluded it would not be good for our children,” says Dr. Linda Milan, chief of the Philippine health ministry’s Foreign Assistance Service. But AmeriCares insisted it be accepted. After much bickering, the charity was eventually forced to take the vaccine back to the States, where it was passed on to another relief group, SHARE, which has many board members in common with AmeriCares. SHARE shipped the vaccine to Mexico, where it was no more useful than it was in the Philippines. One aid official says that country accepted it because “the controls weren’t there.”
AmeriCares’s seeming indifference to the donation’s unsuitability characterizes many of its operations. Such an attitude wastes valuable resources and time in poverty-stricken countries.
There are strings to being connected closely to the federal government and created by a former president. With funding and ties come government obligations.
AmeriCares’s worldwide mission is to deliver aid regardless of “race, religion, or political persuasion.” But the group often effectively contributes to armed conflicts that worsen the plight of the needy, takes sides in those clashes, and ships the vast majority of its goods into prime ideological battlefields.
As a result, the whole AmeriCares agenda is questioned by many longtime relief workers and by a host of specialists who track groups with links to the U.S. intelligence apparatus. They view it as a classic example of how Bush’s “Thousand Points of Light,” like many of the right’s “answers” to grave social ills, is being used not so much to benefit the sick and needy, but the powerful few.
Does this look more like volunteerism or social activism with a political and corporate strategy?
Creating a World Where No One Sits on the Sidelines
The world is full of heroes — individuals with a desire to help, nonprofit/NGO volunteer organizations identifying needs, corporations with resources — but it's not always easy to bring them together. Points of Light sits at the intersection of these three audiences and with our Global Network, we help forge new connections, inspiring and accelerating people-powered change in communities around the world to solve society's toughest issues.
"This whole country was born of voluntarism," said Peggy Noonan, a former Bush speechwriter who coined the phrase when she wrote his acceptance address. "It's us."
While Mr. Bush was talking of volunteer work, Democrats in Congress were pushing legislation to encourage it. Their main difference with the White House was that the Democrats wanted to give volunteers money to help them with things like training, transportation and future scholarships for the volunteers.
The two sides made a deal. Last November, Mr. Bush signed a law that pledges about $250 million to service programs over the next three years, to be distributed by a commission appointed by Mr. Bush. And the Democrats agreed to provide an additional $22.5 million for the Points of Light Foundation, a private nonpartisan group that lists Mr. Bush as its honorary chairman.
Internet Archive: New York Times: 'Thousand Points' as a Cottage Industry
And from there we see current trends, this model has become an billion dollar industry instead of a community endeavoring for change. This is a model that exploits communities for profit. Instead of helping communities, they devastate them.
This phenomenon is known as “voluntourism”, a combination of the words “volunteer” and “tourism”. As a $2 billion industry, voluntourism is one of the fastest growing trends in travel (Driving Change, 2021). Volunteer agencies advertise these short-term mission trips as an opportunity for participants to broaden their worldview and put their altruistic desires into action. While these trips may provide participants with life changing experiences, the opposite is often observed in the communities impacted. Rather, voluntourism is imperialistic in nature. This practice economically disenfranchises local communities, creates relationships dependent on aid reliance, inefficiently manages resources and perpetuates harmful stereotypes.
The imperialistic nature of voluntourism is apparent in the exploitation of the communities they aim to help. While volunteers often have good intentions, the voluntourism industry sustains practices that hinder local economies rather than stimulating them. When organizations hire local workers to complete development projects, they pay for labor and the profit margin is smaller. However, when agencies recruit volunteers who are willing to pay to complete these same jobs, they profit off the impoverished state of local communities by attracting volunteers. This not only deprives local workers of job opportunities, but builds economic dependence on aid, disempowering vulnerable economies.
49 Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. 50 And they were haughty and committed abomination before Me; therefore I took them away as I saw fit.
Ezekiel 16: 49-50
Well done my friend.