Sorry, I can’t not phrase this harshly: your attitude is exactly that which if shown too much by senior leaders will push an irrecoverable amount of CFAV out of the organisation. You’ve been very judgemental - and of people you don’t know. I would also respond that it is perhaps you with the rose-tinted glasses (it is, after all, an interesting paradox for someone unhappily complaining to be wearing them!) or at the very least blinkers on.
While bringing a semantic argument in an attempt to belittle and dismiss someone’s opinion is naïve at best and offensively conceited at worst, there is some truth to some of what you say; however…
The idea that unfair burden, legislative overreach, and wilfully ignorant (of the frontline reality) policy-making should be accepted by volunteers - either present or future - is boggling.
The very people you are denigrating feel the way they do because they are among the most passionate about our mission. That’s why they feel so strongly about these topics. What makes the organisation known as the Air Cadets is (albeit arguably subjectively) being degraded. As the ADCC, ATC, CCF(RAF) and ACO, the RAFAC has a rich and vibrant history which a lot of people take a lot of pride in. It will have a future, but the fear is that will be in name only and what it becomes will defy its history, not build upon it.
The enthusiasm you encourage comes from energy and that energy is being sapped by admin and roadblocking.
Yes, activities are happening - we’re all running them! Don’t think for a minute that any activity you see on SM definitely hasn’t had its struggles and complaints to actually get there. To point at those and say “look, you’re all wrong” is presenting a false dichotomy - people can complain AND still run activities.
I can also guarantee you that the very remarks you say aren’t reflective of the real world very much are - I have the same conversations with people who aren’t on this forum all the time.
Change is fine and acceptable. Many things have changed over the years that haven’t garnered the levels of response seen more recently. Many have been welcomed as positive. It’s the nature and effect of the change that causes issues.
This is not the military, we are not employed. Volunteers do not jump nor do they ask “how high” without first asking “why”.
Because a volunteer is unpaid, their time is even more valuable to them than when acting as an employee. Anything which causes them to spend that time needs to be considered and incredibly well justified with a tangible benefit to the volunteer and/or in our case the cadets. Anything which takes a volunteer away from what they desire to do or makes it harder needs to have its impact very carefully considered and balanced, then correctly communicated and justified. This is something that needs to be better respected and understood. The vast majority didn’t sign up to perform admin, they signed up to deliver lessons and activities, and provide opportunities not readily available or affordable elsewhere, to inspire and develop the next generation. There is acceptance that with that comes certain levels of admin, but the direction of policy and administrative tasks is making it ever-harder for volunteers to efficiently and effectively do what they signed up for across the breadth of potential experiences.
So, perhaps you could begin debating the points raised instead of dismissing them offhand based on assumption and lack of empathy?