What is a community???......
a group of people living in a particular local area; "the team is drawn from all parts of the community"
common ownership; "they shared a community of possessions"
a group of nations having common interests; "they hoped to join the NATO community"
There are loads of different communities within society today, some of which we can see or know about, some not so obvious but are embedded within our way of living or our culture. Communities can be formed due to peoples belifes or religions, some can be formed as a way fo socialing with others and some can be formed without even knowning it.
I think in a sense we are all aware of communities around us whether part of it or not. I am not sure if i am part of any specific communities...?? i dont get on with my neighbours, there is a big age differece and i just dont belong in the street i am currently living in. They are all close, retired people, loving their garden life, noising, gossiping and having cosy chats with one another. When i drive past them gossiping in the street i have to resort to a fake smile and rigid hand wave till out of site.
There is definitely a community link within my street....one i am clearly not part of.
I feel if there was a protest of some sort or debate in something i felt strongly about i would then find my community...( not sure if im making any sense) i.e RBS bank protest in London last week,
Several thousands of people gathered to stage their protest against the bank, and Russle Brand ( famous actor) went along and joined in...he said he was intreged and wanted to see what went on within 'this community'...see how they come together and protest as one!!
This community was not an obvious community in the sense they meet every month and discuss tactics and actions but this community formed on the day due to their passions and their right for justice.
Communities i think do matter, i am part of a cyber community (facebook) but i dont take that to be a serious, involvment of community life, i dont do anything that contributes to anything important, its really just a catch up or keep in touch site......which to be honest i think is abit pointless. What will be next.....???
Inspiration from Graduation!
16 years ago
You are spot on Miss Holly! Communities are made up of many different people perhaps with a common interest and it's easy enough not to fit in with one even when you live close by. Having to put on a fake smile sums it all up! perhaps half the folk who live in the community are doing or thinking the same thing behind closed doors! Further still are people just playing the game to fit in? This I guess poses a question, are communities in certain ways fake? It's nice to feel like we fit in but I'd suggest not at the expense of our own thoughts, interests or beliefs. I guess now with the internet etc we can belong to a community who we can really relate. However as with everything in life nothing is black and white and there will be many an opinion of what a community actually is. Why is nothing simple? lol!
ReplyDeleteVery good points...really got me thinking. Perhaps there are different levels of involvement in the community, integrating into them is certainly hard at times due to age, gender, social class etc and there doesn't seem to be many communal places anymore i.e. local pub. I can see why churches offer such a sense of community - the regular meeting, shared belief etc. I definitely like the principle of community but where do we find it in 2009?
ReplyDeleteI think you're absolutely right, there are probably a lot more communities out there than we realise - and which we may even part of without knowing it! It's very true, too, that communities have a whole range of lifespans - some, like the London protest march last week - perhaps only a day.
ReplyDeleteAlthough your neighbours may not seem very friendly, it might be surprising how they could rally round if you were ever in real need. And I'm sure you would do the same for them. I think we form communities for mutual benefit. (Just think, your facebook community could be part of a really useful network of contacts!!)
My impression is that people don’t want to belong to a neighbourhood community any more. This is especially noticeable in cities and bigger towns. Could be a lack of privacy or lack of common interests…or maybe people can not be bothered!! I think an important factor in building a community is to have things which people can share together. However, imagine the situation if for example, close to your house there is going to be a motorway built or landfill? Would you react? Yes…? How? For sure one of the options would be getting together with others who live in the area… I wonder what was different in the past that made people interact with their neighbours more, and if they perhaps had more to share?
ReplyDeleteI can see there is an argument about the subject of community and I think there is a need to discuss about it. Some of us do not feel they are a part of community, others feel they are. I imagine it is a matter of our understanding what is a community. For some people community is something that is alive every day thanks to people's interactions, meetings, discussions,prayers, plays. For others community can be 'made up' under some circumstances,like building a motorway close to the neighbourhood. I wonder how would we call that groups of people who came to London to protest against G20 summit....where they a short-living community united for the same purpose and under the same belief or were they jus hooligans that came to the city to demolish shops and fight with the police?I can imagine they must have discussed their thoughts and beliefs before, perhaps they had been meeting somewhere to discuss their thoughts and plan their protests. Maybe ven they are still alive as a 'group' and communicate with each other, despite living in different places....are they a community?
ReplyDelete