What is Community?
Webster's Dictionary says:
The definition of Community: a unified body of individuals: as
a : state, commonwealth b : the people with common interests living in a particular area; broadly : the area itself <the problems of a large community> c : an interacting population of various kinds of individuals (as species) in a common location d : a group of people with a common characteristic or interest living together within a larger society <a community of retired persons> e : a group linked by a common policy f : a body of persons or nations having a common history or common social, economic, and political interests <the international community> g : a body of persons of common and especially professional interests scattered through a larger society <the academic community>
2
: society at large
3
a : joint ownership or participation <community of goods> b : common character : likeness <community of interests> c : social activity : fellowship d : a social state or condition
Examples of COMMUNITY
- a respectable member of the community
- The festival was a great way for the local community to get together.
- Many communities are facing budget problems.
- People in the community wanted better police protection.
Origin of COMMUNITY
Middle English comunete, from Anglo-French communité, from Latin communitat-, communitas, from communis
First Known Use: 14th century
Related to COMMUNITY
Synonyms: neighborhood
Antonyms: difference, disagreement, discrepancy, disparateness, disparity, dissimilarity, dissimilitude, distinctiveness, distinctness, unlikeness
[+]moreOther Sociology Terms
bourgeois, ethos, eugenics, exurb, incommunicado, intelligentsia, megalopolis, metrosexual, mores, subcultureRhymes with COMMUNITY
Learn More About COMMUNITY
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Next Word in the Dictionary: community antenna television
Previous Word in the Dictionary: communitarian
All Words Near: community
Previous Word in the Dictionary: communitarian
All Words Near: community
Wow! That would have been 3-4 pages had I not shrunk it from 16font to 10! That is some definition! Now what happens when people form communities? We know they come together and unify, working towards a common goal and each one person is important to that goal. I believe at one time America was a community, made up of many smaller communities all with similar goals. Now how do we have communities with a similar goal and still keep our individual rights, freedoms and liberties? Simple! Make the highest of your common goals start with Freedom & Liberty & Justice! Wait a minute, is that not what our founding fathers wanted for us to begin with? Was America not a community of Free men who were wanting share a common passion for Independence with the people of their community? Well then what the heck went wrong? First I need to point out you can't have unity when ANY type of segregation exists. A honest community will not be affected nor damaged by other co-existing communities unless it has isolated itself from other communities. I personally believe this defeats the purpose of community all together. A real community would have a diverse group of living beings working together in their natural habitat/environment. So if you want to travel outside that environment, you would then be leaving your community and joining either temporarily or permanently another community. Well what does one do before going on vacation or moving? Look into the communities in the area, schools, resources, neighborhoods, jobs etc. If you find one community offers great education and another great healthcare, and you have a healthy family with children, you'd want the one that best suits your needs. In a perfect world you'd have both right? Well far be it from me to say but many have, we don't live in a perfect world. However, if I were making that choice I'd chose the education for my kids so that they would be able to then study medicine and then provide what their community is missing. Now my children have the right to chose not to do that, but they also know that each of us has a role to play and if that role is self serving it will only benefit the self if anyone at all. So by teaching our children a sense of responsibility for the well being and care of all beings they become logical and compassionate people who now want whats best for their communities and not for themselves. Yes this is happening in some areas today, but not enough places come together in this way. Our first action to healing our world is to come together and work out our differences within our communities. If there is no common goal in your area, then it's not a community. I think back to stories of those I cared for as a long term aging & disability caregiver. “When I was your age honey I would walk 12 miles to school in the snow, barefoot. We didn't talk to our parents the way you kids do. Why don't these young people have any respect these days?” you can learn a lot from the stories of the previous generations. These people understood the value of community. If a family was in need of food then each family would give to equal out the food and nobody went hungry. If a business was having trouble then a meeting would be held to come up with ideas to save it. It wasn't until we started disagreeing with neighboring communities that we started to get divided amongst ourselves. Each person is completely and utterly entitled to their opinion, even if it's frightening to others. YET, yet it's not required that others feel the same way, so if you feel your community is against your ideals, then maybe it's not the right community for you. Personal opinions and feelings etc. shouldn't have anything to do with taking care of each other or working together to achieve peace, freedom, liberty & justice. We don't get to decide for someone else, only ourselves. So, if you have a community full of non working people who chose not to contribute or help one another 2 things may happen: 1. they will eventually go extinct.. because none of them will do anything to preserve life or come together to ensure a healthy future. 2. They will disperse into other communities finding a place within them that allows them a small portion of work or effort. Though it maybe that there is a 3rd option, they with a common goal find the last resort of keeping their community alive will mean each of them working their roles to keep the community together and achieve their goal. So, to put it all in a short message, the point is:
Communities around the US & The World should unite on common ground and work together to solve the communities problems and put their strengths to good use. This will ultimately allow this country and the World to begin it's healing process and allow Independence amongst Unity.
It's time the people within the communities started working together to take care of themselves and stop relying on corrupt politicians and government officials to make a guess and do it for them. If we are so unhappy with the way things are, why do we sit at home and watch it happen and do nothing to change it? You can start from home...
HOW TO START A COMMUNITY
- Get Motivated! Figure out the Goal of your community
- Get a diverse group of people together with the same Goal
- Work together to plan the best way for all involved to reach that goal and keep it the main priority of the communities system
- Research what has worked for others & what hasn't worked
- Have a group that has the wide spectrum of perspectives so that all areas of concern and importance can be addressed. Having too many of the same people will create a close minded or segregated community that is focused on only certain people, issues or ideas. It's important to have debate, it's good to discuss as mature beings the pro's & con's to make the best choice. If we don't hear both sides of an idea then it's incomplete. Every person is capable and often does make mistakes but if we don't listen to those who think we are wrong we'll only find out the hard way if we were wrong.
- Know as much as you can about what your goal is...Study, research, learn & explore all dimensions of the Communities concept. Don't head into something your not 200% familiar with or you may look foolish when people ask you what, why & how.
- Ask others what they think & feel about your idea/plan...if even a few agree then your on your way to building a community!
Here are some tools to get you motivated!!
I learned so much in researching & preparing this post, it's amazing what you can discover when your being active in your goal. The last video is very close to our home and it is so inspiring to see people caring about each other and actually making a difference!!! We can all be a part of the Revolution! :)