Communityness is the aggregate of relationships and bonds among individuals who share things in common. The sharing might be the DNA of extended families (or race or ethnic identity), geography (neighborhood, town, or polity), experiences and history, beliefs (religion, ideology, or worldview), and interests (both material and non-material). The bonds may range from very strong to very weak and may fluctuate over time. As I discussed in my book American Ways, strong communities make strong individuals, who in turn make strong communities. Nobody makes it through life all alone all the time. We need and benefit from shared resources and support. Empathy is an important value.
In communities, the people pursue common interests, such as defense from outside enemies and internal civic law, justice, and order -- the physical safety and predictability that allow everyone to go about their day-to-day business. It also means public education as well as public health and sanitation. In times of great distress it might also include general economic as well as public physical health. Sickly, poor, homeless, and hungry individuals may pose a threat to the wellbeing of all other individuals in the community.
In the eyes of extreme libertarians, all forms of communityness look like socialism. They see the world through the lenses of fear -- fear that a strong community, especially government, will take away individual freedoms, even the freedoms that extend to greed and selfishness. They fear dictators and domination by sub-communities of rival ideas and interests. They fear losing their property and money. They reject environmental regulations, measures to address global climate change, and common health insurance as forms of public health and sanitation. They advocate lower community resources and spending and fewer government regulations that infringe upon short-term profits, however gained. They completely reject the idea that the community may need to save free enterprise from itself by reacting to bad community behavior.
Individuals do not have to surrender their personal liberties to achieve strong communities; they only have to cooperate with other individuals. As in team work, each individual is important working together toward a group goal. Individuals need to take a broader and longer-term perspective to their own private wellbeing. Sometimes personal gratifications have to be delayed. All communities require a give-and-take among its members. The key is fairness, defined as consistent processes to control problems, complaints, conflicts, and frustrations.. The members of a community need to agree to common processes and then abide by their rules. This also means that members alike in standing within the community are treated alike.
Copyright 2019 Stephen M. Millett (All rights reserved)
