Whatever Happened to Community?

For thousands of years most human life has centered around the community. The tribe. The village. Where we all knew each other. Interacted. Cared for one another in a very real way — by talking, by listening and by helping those most in need.

Now look at us. The community has collapsed, as our lives are being painted in a dichotomy of both being anonymous in that we have no community to share life with, and ubre public in that all of our personal behaviors and actions are known, marketed and sold by a corporate surveillance state.

The fact that I have to justify with people on social media whether we the collective should take care of the weakest and most vulnerable portion of our society is proof of the broken structure of community that once held up and supported all of its people (not to mention, protected its natural resources).

What has happened in the absence of our pursuit for collective well-being is an abandonment of unified principles in order to be in servitude for our corporate overlords. Zuckeberg, Bezos and the countless named others each command more resources than entire countries, and direct us to direct those resources solely towards them. The labor class produces, and the renting class collect the bounty.

It is an old story waiting to be rewritten according to the dreams and needs of today’s human.

We blame immigrating refugees fleeing violence and famine that we the USA helped create. We close our eyes and ears to the homeless veterans who engaged in corporate war business before they knew any better. To the disenfranchised negro, indian and rural white americans, we say ‘too bad’. Should have had smarter parents. Or whiter. Or richer ones. Should have worked harder at your two jobs. Should have been someone who is not you if you really don’t want to suffer. Blame god, not me for your hot mess. Yeah, that’s it.

A childhood friend told me ‘only the strong survive’, in his defense of Europe’s genocidal conquering of the Americas. It is a too common attitude for today. They the indians need to shut up, heal and go on with the show. Take their casino money and do something brilliant with it. Invest in the stock market that capitalizes life and poisons the very blood of your home lands. Go on now indians, join our jolly march of matricide upon your desiccated grounds. You have pavement to walk on now, thank you very much.

You worried about that oil spill? Those chemicals? That nuclear waste oozing into the oceans? Don’t worry indian, those things will clean right up. I promise. You trust when a white man promises, right? We never break promises. Just don’t talk about those broken treaties and mass sterilizations we did upon y’all, ok.

It’s time to move on. Just be grateful for your federally controlled land reserves where we allow you to live in dignified, co-created misery. It’s the least you could do to help us forget what we’ve done.

This indian exclusion from our too-blind-to-succeed community is just one example of our failure to stand for each other as a global community,, which is what we who see know that we have. It is painfully obvious. We are one humanity on earth, which means we are one big community, which means it is time we start standing with the weak and vulnerable, not the ones with militarized boots standing upon the necks of the natives.

In a sane, traditional community it would never be allowed where one has the resources of a million. A bigger house, a gold business card holder, perhaps a few hundred more horses for the head honcho, sure. But this? No, never. It could not be so in a communal world.

Why? Because despite their differences in opinion, abilities and fortunes, a community would never allow one member to be homeless, sick and starving while another has enough to satisfy the vulnerable’s needs a hundred times over.

For human to move forward with grace, we need to turn around and have a good look at all we have forgotten, and bring these with us on our way.

Community. Seed saving and sharing. Herbal medicines. Sustainable agriculture. Natural building. Together, sharing the wisdom we all hold, we will create the paradisaical planet of our dreams.