The need for community
In these tough times, as people always like to say, there is a real need for community. We in the western world have broken down our communities over the last half-century. Some done by choice, some by social manipulation by cooperate elites. We don’t have the sense of community that our ancestors had. With this lack of community, we have become more selfish hedonistic and narcissist. Most have little or no empathy for anyone other than us and maybe our small social circle. I am guilty of this as well.
To remedy this, I believe that we need to build our own communities again. Imagine what type of community you would like to live in and build that. I am not talking about a community built on others pain or enslavement. We need to get back to producing more of what we consume instead of going about like locusts. We need to care about the people around us, not just in our immediate circle but in society. We might think that the poor starving people on the streets or in other neighborhoods cities or countries have nothing to do with us, that they should “pull themselves up by the bootstraps”. We do not see the problem with a society that has so much wealth but there are people with nothing. We do not realize that we are all in the same society and we are only as strong as the weakest link. If we cannot provide the basics for everyone then our society is not that great. There will be further social unrest and instability if we don’t get a handle on these problems.
Most people are socialists and want the government to do something for them, but ONLY them. If socialism is used for the betterment of society as a whole, then people feel differently. This worked in mid-20th century United States, but the corporate forces guided by the Powell Memorandum used that selfish mindset to take more power for themselves at our expense.
We cannot wait for the government, big corporations, or philanthropy from wealthy individuals. If that occurs then it will not be a real solution for the average person, it will just be another form of self-expression and control by the person or organization that funded it. We in the west worship wealth and capital, so the people who have those things are worshipped too. We expect those people to lead the way and do big things to make our world better and they will not, they can’t. No celebrity, wealthy individual, corporation, non-governmental organization (NGO), or government knows what you need. I’m not saying I’m perfect either. I’m guilty of a lot of this selfish thinking too. I was raised in this culture of selfishness, ignorance, and greed. A society where empathy is weakness, and violence and hording of resources are virtues. I’m working on it. I just believe that as we continue in this 21st century, we will need to be more communal in the United States, and in a lot of the western world.