Community

Community.  It's a word I've heard thrown around a lot since I moved to the south.  Mostly relegated to rural communities, there's been a digging in of the heels as if they were under attack.  If you were to speak to many of these folks you'd find that they truly believe they ARE under attack.  Their communities.  Their churches.  Their very way of life.  I can see how they see it this way but, from a more macro perspective, what's really under attack is their resistance to change. 

Merriam-Webster defines community as:

"a unified body of individuals: such as

                a : the people with common interests living in a particular area"               

Given that, in modern times, people in a "particular area" come from different socio-economic, ethnic and political backgrounds I don't believe the word community can be based on these fundamental pillars of who we are as individuals.  I don't define my community by what they do or don't believe or by what their interests may be, unified or not.  Instead, the idea of community has to come from a deeper foundation.  A lower common denominator if you will.  I believe the idea of community comes from the fact that we, as humans, are social animals.  We require interaction.  This idea of community harkens back to tribal and hunter-gatherer life.  Community is baked into our DNA out of necessity.  If we were not a part of a community we were banished to a life of hardship and death.  Because this is no longer the case, I believe the idea of community, in a modern geographical sense means the desire for harmonious kinship and co-habitation with our neighbors and fellow townsfolk.  Gone are the days of community dictated by singular interests, goals or necessities.  We no longer require community to live.  However, it is still fundamental to our psyches.  This is why we can, and often do find ourselves in communities that are at hyper-polarized political odds with themselves, which sort of makes the modern iteration of community an oxymoron. 

In my early adulthood I considered myself a libertarian.  After all, why would I, of sound mind and body, want rules dictated to me by some far-off governing body?    As I inevitably became older, and wiser, I disappointingly realized that many adults more closely resemble children in adult's bodies.  Although the physical vessel grew, their knowledge and intellect failed to keep pace.  I think we can all agree that many people lack empathy.  We can agree that many people lack self-awareness.  And we can agree that many people seem incapable of understanding what personal sacrifices are required to maintain a healthy and thriving community.  These realizations are what turned me away from libertarianism because libertariansim fails when we have these undeniable elements in our communities.  I have empathy.  I have self-awareness.  I assess the consequences of my actions in terms of how they may impact not only me and my loves ones, but also my community.  In other words, I am a thoughtful and accountable human.  If a libertarian community were comprised solely of people like me, libertarianism would be a means to a panacea.  However, all but the most dimwitted, or those blinded by denial would have to agree that there is a critical mass of individuals amongst any population of people who lack these traits.  This is what makes the idea of community and libertarianism utterly incompatible.  The fact is, a well-functioning society needs rules.  A well-functioning society needs regulations.  A well-functioning society needs an understanding that some of what you are sacrificing will go to things you may not approve of.  If we don't have these things, the sociopaths among us will run unchecked and ruin things for everybody.  If you disagree with me, then I do not think you have a good grasp on history or the human condition.

To break this down into a simple example, lets look at the current debate over masks  in the COVID era.  Science proves, beyond the shadow of any doubt, that masks reduce the spread of a sickness that preys upon society's weakest elements without prejudice.  I may not know the elderly couple I see at the grocery store, but I care enough about them to not put them at risk of death should I have unknowingly contracted the virus, say at the gas station the day before.  Therefore, I wear my mask out of respect for them, regardless of whether or not we see eye to eye on economics, politics, or anything else.  I have empathy for them.  I make a sacrifice of my own personal freedom out of the respect I have for them as fellow humans.  I think about and care about what damage I may be doing to my community.  So I put a mask on.  And yet here we are.  Millions of Americans refusing to wear masks because of "FREEDOM".  Tens of thousands of needless deaths.  Families torn apart by the loss of loved ones all so some can exercise their freedom.  These people won't understand what's going on until it personally impacts them or their loved ones and even then they'll reject it with denial. This is not good for community. This is why we need rules and regulations.  This is why the practical real-world application of libertarianism fails.  It is reliant on people doing the right thing for themselves while community requires thinking about what is right for others.  Even those you abhor.  History proves time and again that we, as a species, are incapable of individualistic self-regulation.   

This brings me to what I think community means in a libertarian context.  The only way that community can exist in a libertarian context is for that community to be completely homogenized.  A grouping of people that think, feel and react similarly in most situations.  I have two thoughts about this.  First is that this is a pipe dream.  The second is that any community that lacks sufficient diversity, in thought or otherwise, is destined to devolve into something inhumanely ugly.  The proverbial mob mentality as it were. 

When I hear talk of secession, such as the case of Springs County, I am always saddened by the fundamental misunderstanding of basic human behavior most of the people we elect to positions of leadership seem to have.  As a general rule, states and counties throughout the south trail most progressive areas of the country in very important and very measurable areas.  Median household income, education of our children, access to health care and, directly correlated, mortality itself, just to name a few.  Rather than tackle these realities, it's easier to cast blame or, worse, deny their validity altogether.  I find it no coincidence that libertarianism is prevalent in most of these communities.  What saddens me the most is that rather than taking a hard look within themselves and trying to effect positive change, they instead seem to reject common sense.  Reject science.  Reject easily verifiable facts.  Reject reality itself.  When you sow a community that can't even agree on what is fact and what is truth, you reap poisonous fruit. This is so fundamentally dangerous not only to community but to society as a whole.

This libertarian streak seems to have these communities doubling down on the exact tenets that have made them further trail a rapidly evolving world.  I'm all for the keeping of traditions and respecting heritage, but not at the expense of levying a death sentence on my community.   My family is from the Midwest.  I've witnessed first hand what happens when communities, once rich on steel production, fail to evolve.  Youth disappears with opportunity and without vibrant youth, the community dies a slow and painful death.  This will be Springs County in 25 years.  No different than Dixie County or any of the other counties so common across the South.  Counties devoid of prospects.  Devoid of hope.  Filled with community members who try their best to hide their disappointment, sadness and anger behind the thin veil of heritage and readily scapegoat easy targets like the government rather than take a look in the mirror. Without a taxable base of residents, and relying on sales taxes of goods and services that don't, and won't exist what will your schools look like in 20 years?  How will you attract the best teachers for your children?  How will you afford necessary infrastructure? 

 The sad truth is that many who may disagree with what I have to say will react with the predictable, "Well if you don't like it, get out!" mentality.  And to them, it begs the question.  What does community mean to you?