"The Need for a Sense of Community and Its Revival as a Local Government Wealth Making Rationale" page 2 of 2
When some people feel lonely, they seek “community” to
dissipate their funk. They need other people, strangers even, to feel connected
to something bigger than themselves. Other people, and not always grumbling
mountain men, are content with the community provided by nature, their hobbies,
and the independent pursuit of interests. For these self-realized people,
hunting dogs may be the solitary requirement for communal interaction. The point
is that different people require different levels of human interaction to
receive the attention they crave and entertainment.
Individuals who long for a sense of community can go to a
crowded nightclub, or move into a one-room hovel with an extended family of
immigrants for whom privacy is some quaint American concept. People are not
prohibited from knocking on neighbors’ doors and finding commonality. People
choose where they live and work and how far they’re willing to travel. If they
want to commune with others, they’ll chat over pedestrian-unfriendly barriers or
move into planned communities. If they want a bargain that the corner store
can’t provide, they are free to drive to the megamart and fight the bigger crowd
in the wider aisles.
Individual decision-making in pursuit of a personal sense
of community can flourish in the democratic, capitalistic, free structure of
American society. Community spirit is not compulsory in a free society, though
lonely people with a forum may desire it so strongly that they make
magnificently irrational and profoundly simplistic pronouncements to instigate
outrage. There is no proven link between a generalized sentiment called
“community” and crime rates or personal feelings of alienation. Crime has a single cause: criminals choose to
commit it, though a city landscape that aids in hiding or getting away after
committing a crime are valid reasons to restructure a community.
So what, neighbors choose to be reluctant to speak to neighbors? So what, Americans work hard in our system to afford cars—should they be chastised after unfair comparisons to less wealthy people in other countries that have repressive governments, different resources, and different social systems and cultures?
Government's job isn't to create happy communities at taxpayer expense. People are free to choose their pleasures, and there are usually enough privately funded communities to serve everyone's diverse interests.