Community Service

So today in class I brought up the issue of community service and Confucianism. I know I'm not the only one in class that has done community service, but I believe that lots of kids did it for selfish reasons like we talked about in class today. Community service looks great on college applications and I know many kids that were obligated by their parents or even by the National Honor Society to do community service work. I like to believe that I have genuine intentions when I do community service, but Confucius' talks of selfishness really made me reflect on my own actions and the actions of others. I liked that we were able to clarify today that selfish actions are determined by your motivation. These people who were obligated to do community service do not have the proper motivation, making them selfish. On the other hand, people like myself and others in class who I have performed community service with, have genuine desires to help people, making this a selfless action.