Community

I was over at www.johnpilger.com today. After posting the story below, I decided to go have a look at what else he might have written recently. What I found was this article, Destroying the best of Britain.

Its an article about how the British government is closing lots of local post offices. And its an article about how such local post offices have long been the center of communities. Its an article on how the people who work there help their neighbors. So, despite the fact that this is an article about a local issue in a foreign land, it got me thinking a bit about community and profit.

The theory we are constantly bombarded with here in the US is that everything should be decided by the market. That everything must justify itself by paying for itself. That whenever possible government services should be privatized, and that the government should not provide a service that would compete with what a private company can offer.

Of course, I think that's just dead wrong. There are some things that simply can not have their value determined by the marketplace. And this notion of 'community' is one of these.

We know that community is vital for a healthy life. We either know this from reading academic studies, or we know it from having experienced it. Or maybe we know it from living in the modern American city where 'community' can be so hard to find.

There would seem to be a strong value in creating and building community. It leads to less stress, or at least people to talk to and be with to help relieve the stress we get from other parts of life. It leads to a safer place to live. It leads generally to higher property values. Has anyone ever noticed that all the 'communities' that the rightwingers refer to as the "People's Republic of ___________" all have very high property values?

As such, there are some decisions that should not be taken on the pure basis of profit and loss. The local post offices described by Mr. Pilger in this article would seem to be one. The notion of putting local libraries and community centers and recreation centers in the communities is another. These provide a place for people to come together. They provide a place for a 'community' to form and grow.

As such, these sorts of services can't be judged entirely by the monetary bottom line. They provide value to the society as a whole that doesn't show up on an accountant's ledger sheet. They are therefore well worth the investment even if the accountants complain that they are losing money.

Sometimes, one gets the impression that there's been a deliberate attempt to destroy 'community' in America. Maybe its just the free market gone wild. Maybe its just collateral damage from the drive to make a buck anywhere a buck can be made. But, sometimes you get the sense its something more. That the goal is to destroy 'community' itself.

Why? Because only from collective action can we stand and defend ourselves against the corporate predators that stalk our streets. Only by standing together can we defend our rights and our livlihoods. And, its 'community' where we learn to stand together. Its 'community' that forms the bonds that let us stand together. Its 'community' that teaches us that what happens to our neighbor is important to us, so its well worth it to go stand with your neighbor when they face trouble. Because you'll damn well want someone standing with you when you face trouble.

There seems to be a goal to make us all individuals. To make us all solitary people who see the world through our TV sets or through our computer screens as individuals and not as groups. There seems to be a goal to shatter all the bonds of family and friends and neighbors that tie us to others.

When we stand alone, we fell powerless. We know ther's nothing we can do. We can't stand against a corporation that cares only for its own profit. We can't stand against a government that does not represent us. Alone, we are powerless.

So much has been destroyed that sometimes it feels like its hard to find anything like this. That just means we need to find a way to rebuild 'community'. That's harder than just joining in on something that's already there. Its too bad that we've allowed it to be so battered and torn apart. But that just means we need to do more work to build it.

But it can be hard to know exactly how. I guess just go down to the street all alone and see if you can meet someone kind. :)