I don't know of a single Scouting unit where "Far more time seems to be spent on fundraising than on citizenship and skills." Not nearly. Perhaps you do. Or it could be the "seems" part.
Certainly, those who earn a living in Scouting are quite concerned with fund-raising. It could hardly be otherwise.
The claim that Scouting was created to prepare young men for the military has been made. If that were the case, what is the situation today?
But it does not seem to be true that either Baden Powell or the arly natinoal leaders in the U.S. saw Scouting as a factory to produce soldiers. The very first "Scouting" literature was a series of articles (gathered into a book) by Baden Powell called "Scouting for Boys" in which he specifically wrote about the need for and benefits of "peace scouts" and "peace scouting." Seeing the wilderness as corrective of the corrupting influence of the late Victorian city -- a natural school for training responsible, self-reliant citizens -- hardly seems like preparation for war, and Baden Powell expressly saw Scouting post-WWI as a movement to prevent war by creating a world brotherhood of Scouting.
The uniform? Surely it proves a paramilitary intent. No. The uniform was seen then as attracting boys and is seen now by many as a barrier to entry - not cool in the 21st Century. But unifrom-wearing is common in many non-military organizations, nurses say -- or baseball teams.
There was a "Scouting" organization in the early years in the U.S. that was expressly military, the "American Boy Scouts" (later the "United States Boy Scouts"), but it lost the contest to be "the" Scouting movement here in a few years to the B.S.A., which also expressly talked about Scouting and peace, not war, in its very earliest literature.
When the U.S. entered WWI and WWII, the B.S.A. strongly supported the war effort, as did almost every American institution. Those were the "good wars."
I can testify that by 1954, the Boy Scouts were anything but military. In fact, we were picketed regularly by the John Birch Society on the grounds that we were Communist Dupes -- or worse. We were said to be 'weakening the morale fiber of America" by having a "World Brotherhood" Merit Badge.
(Not to mention racially integrated Troops!)
Were there - are there -- adult leaders who mistake A Scout Troop as their own "platoon" of young troopers? Sure. They are a probelm to be solved, not exemplars of what Scouting is all about.
Women, as noted, are staistically a small proportion of commissioned Scouters. I have never heard that they can fill the "male role model" slot and have not seen any try. Overall, they are a benefit to Scouting, as is true of male Scouters. I wish there were more men -- and women -- willing to spend the "one hour a week."
Men do not spend time helping with Scouting for a variety of reasons. I have heard a multitude of reasons over nearly forty years why adult males can't help with Scouting, but never, before today, heard it was due to women in Scouting. Life is a discovery process. In any event, any excuse will do.
Speaking bluntly, of course.
