Our need for community

From: Mike at SurvivalHomesteader.com

In this day and age, where everything is disposable, it seems very few people have any sense of community. Many people don’t known there neighbors right next door, let alone the areas further away from them. They see no reason to even try to get to know anyone. Either they don’t have time, are too busy or just don’t care.

This antipathy has eroded the fabric of this great nation. It has created a nation of people that no longer respect anyone or anything.

We are a race that is communal by nature. We were not made to live alone. That is the reason we developed languages. If you watch people, you see they tend to gravitate to others without even realizing they are.

When we lose our sense of community, our desire, our need for others leads us anywhere someone seems to care. That’s why it is so easy to get a child to want to be part of a gang.

I have been reading a book called Alas, Babylon. It was written in 1959. Even though many of the things in the story seem outdated, the writer shows his readers the need for community. In contrast, he also shows what happens to an place that has lost their sense of community.

I remember when I was a kid, I lived in a small town in Arizona. It seemed like I knew everyone around my house. My best friend lived in a duplex directly across from me. On the corner lived Grandpa Morris, with his fantastic pomegranates. Mrs. Packard lived next door to him. Another friend of mine lived next door to her. My grandparents lived about a block away. That was my community.

I have often wondered, if some major disaster happened, what would happen to us. Would we rise from the ashes, or disappear, as other civilizations before us? Without that sense of community, I don’t think we would make it.

We need people in our lives. We are not meant to be alone. We wouldn’t have a reason to strive to be our best. We would have no reason to thrive. We would just exist. We would also be be vulnerable to everything that decided we might be crunchy and good to eat.

I honestly think, in the next few years, we are going to see some very dark times. If we don’t start to get to know the people around us, start creating communities again, those days will be even darker.

Get to know your neighbors. Even if you don’t agree with some of their beliefs, you can agree with them on their basic needs. With time you can find some common ground. Even if you find you can not get along with them, you have learned they may be someone you need to watch, or someone that might need you to watch out for them.