We're here to help

Americans are hard-wired to be at their best and their proudest when they are independent and self-reliant.

But when tragedy strikes around the world -- the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, or the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami -- America is among the first and always delivers the most in terms of assistance to people in need.

Contradictory? Absolutely not. It's helpful, and it's human nature.

"A Scout cares about other people," the Scout Law reads. "He helps others without expecting payment or reward. He fulfills his duties to his family by helping at home."

In its original wording, this part of the Scout Law first charged boys with the daily-good-deed mission -- that a Scout "must do at least one good turn to somebody every day." Indeed, the image of a Scout helping an old lady across the street is an American icon.

But that's not just some corny trope. Being helpful is excellent life advice.

And it's not always about adding to a church collection plate, or manning the ladle at a soup kitchen. Wave a motorist ahead of you in traffic. Spot someone a few cents if they're short of change in the supermarket checkout.

When you get ready to go to bed each night, take inventory of your day and ask yourself: Did you help make the world a little better for someone else in the past 24 hours?

Scouts do, every day -- from the youngest Tenderfoot to the highest-decorated Eagle Scout.

Attaining the rank of Eagle Scout takes a lot of work. The best-known part of that work is earning merit badges. Scouting offers 122 merit badges, but to reach Eagle a boy has to earn 21 -- 12 of them in required categories.

At least nine of those required categories call for Scouts, in some way, to be helpful toward others -- categories like first aid, communications, citizenship and lifesaving.

That's no coincidence. Scouting doesn't instill values in boys so they can run off and become hermits. The Scout way is designed to educate young men and mold them into responsible citizens who can perform good deeds for their communities -- people, in short, who are helpful.

It's a cornerstone of civilized society. Literacy, law, economics -- those concepts were formed at the dawn of civilization by our ancestors to help one another.

True, one person alone can achieve success. But society cannot truly progress unless people help one another.

Scouting teaches that. We should all remember that.

(In honor of Scouting's 100th birthday this year, The Chronicle will be exploring the 12 character attributes listed in The Boy Scout Law. Next week: friendly.)