My Experience with Habitat for Humanity, or How to Properly Celebrate the Birth of the Antichrist

I had been meaning to volunteer for Habitat for Humanity for months. At some point I realized that there were areas of Los Angeles (and probably every other major American urban center) that could reasonably qualify as third-world. In addition to that, I observe on a daily basis how much personal wealth is generated for people who do not contribute anything valuable to society. OK, forget about contributing anything valuable to society... some people take home huge salaries without even knowing how to do their goddamn meaningless jobs.

I work in the movie advertising business.

Working in such an industry makes one observant of the fact that today's world is driven by so much theoretical wealth, theoretical exchange, theoretical "goods."

Working in my corner of the world, it is very hard to feel that you are doing anything of value with your life. It is a challenge to feel personally invested in campaigning for a product that you do not believe in - whether that product is a movie or Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign for governor. My job consists of trying to dazzle people and convince them that they want something that they really don't need (and would be better off without).

Since I feel that way about it, it seems weird to me that I am paid to do this work. Surely, it is not to the benefit of society to have advertising, especially when it distorts the truth (as all advertising does). Not only is this work not beneficial to society, but I have observed a large amount of bloat in this industry - grossly over-inflated salaries, positions which could be entirely eliminated. It's led me to believe that this is widespread in the modern world. Most of us who live comfortably in the world do not put in as much work (physical or otherwise) as those of us live poorly. Comfortable jobs come with less supervision, more freedom, more autonomy, less efficiency, more waste. In addition, most of us who live well in the world make our living by producing goods or services which are of little or no practical value.

It's so odd to my naive mind that immense wealth can be generated by such a system.

I suppose it feels good to know that we have specialized skills and college degrees, and that the jobs we do could not be done by just anybody. But we're not teaching anything valuable. We're not producing food, or providing water. We're not caring for the sick or dying. We're not addressing causes of violence between people, or reducing damage to the environment. Nope, we here in the movie advertising business are just pumping out more junk for consumption and disposal.

Humankind has hardwired instincts to do physical work. We have always fought those instincts, creating a division of labor and a system of trade to bypass the need to provide for ourselves by the sweat of our own effort. But that instinct is a survival mechanism - it is our bodies telling us we are supposed to be out there, gettin' shit done so we can survive the winter. Because the model of society has drifted so far from any kind of productive work, to a model of mechanized production and mass consumption, our minds are growing as fat as our bodies. We're like earthworms, eating and shitting and transforming the landscape as we go.

I'm not sure if everyone who lives this way is conscious of it - or if they even want to be. Clearly, the remedy for everything these days is to buy something new. If you can't feel better buying new clothes, or new entertainment, we now offer surgeries and prescriptions that can act as goals, rewards and distractions. Clearly enough people are fucking miserable to sustain an expanding pharmaceutical industry that can afford to mass-market its anti-depressants on TV and in magazines. I can't wait to see billboards on the highway for Wellbutrin. "I'm ready to experience life. Ask you doctor if Wellbutrin is right for you."

Amidst all this musing, I got a bug up my ass to break away from my stupid job, which "pays the bills," and do something beneficial for someone, anyone. Habitat for Humanity seems like a worthy project to me because it provides a basic necessity - housing - to people in need. You might argue that half of Southern California is in need of housing, what with real estate prices being what they are here. But the organization screens for working families who are below a certain level of income and requires them to invest their own labor into the construction or renovation of a home which they purchase at a discounted rate. HFH pays for trained construction co-ordinators and building supplies. Other materials, such as appliances, and all other labor are donated. The homes are sold to the family at far below market price ( I believe LA area HFH homes were selling around $50,000 ) and they are financed at monthly payments that are affordable for the families. The money is used to roll back into the program which operates non-profit.

Although they are Christian, and I am non-religious, nobody tried to preach to me. Although I have my problems with religion, I can participate with a group like this which acts according to humanitarian, rather than dogmatic religious principles. I don't think anyone on the job site was affiliated with a church group of any kind. In fact, two of the volunteers were high school seniors who were obligated by their class to do community service, while two other volunteers were consigned to the program by the talent agency they worked for. I found it mildly amusing that a large Hollywood talent agency would conduct a community service PR campaign by sending the mailroom boys to do the gruntwork, while wearing the agency T-shirts in case cameras were present. The guys themselves, former college fraternity brothers, viewed the experience akin to a hazing. Cynical as I am, it is still good that even on a Tuesday, HFH can manage to find volunteers.
As for the work itself, it consisted mainly of stripping wood siding off an exterior wall with hammers and prybars. In addition, we cleaned out the three storage areas under the house. The house had been condemned and was possibly donated to HFH by the city of Long Beach. According to Billy, the site foreman, one of the storage sheds had been occupied by a couch and a pile of condoms and syringes when they moved in. The neighborhood was not great, and the living space in the house was smaller than my one bedroom apartment. However, the plan was to build out the storage shed area into a first floor living space, which meant that the concrete driveway would have to be broken out. Billy told me that the family consisted of a single dad, two daughters and one son who was confined to a wheelchair, so there were also plans to install a lift to the second floor. HFH has only been working on this project for a week, so it does not look like much. However, Billy tells me that projects are typically budgeted for about four months.

I would like to come back to this site to see the progress, although it was difficult enough to get away from the job for one day, so I might have to wait until they can schedule me for a Saturday. If you are interested in volunteering with HFH, you can check them out on the web: http://www.habitat.org/local/
They take volunteers most days, except Sundays, but they can get you signed up faster if you are available during the week.
I decided 06-06-06 was a good day to do a good deed - not because of religion or superstition - but to atone for my involvement in the promotion of that ridiculous-looking "Omen" remake movie.