I’m an American. I cannot speak for other national cultures, but I do recognize and hone up to human nature pretty comprehensively, so I’ll wager differences aren’t that significant. Here, especially if you work in real estate, we throw around the word ‘community’ to mean something that it doesn’t actually mean at all. We infer that it means a group of people with common fellowship or mutually beneficial and active relations. It isn’t used to mean, a neighborhood, or a group living within a defined area. But, whether you live in slum-lord-run apartments or a mansion on 10 acres, nothing is further from the truth in most cases. That first definition isn’t something we consider or strive for in any way. We automatically accept that idea of togetherness, and I think it makes us feel good to blindly have faith in it, but in no way do we actively strive for it or put effort towards making it a reality. It’s easier and more comforting to assume there is community without thinking, but to the contrary, live our personal lives without having to meet and connect to our neighbors (much less beyond). This is really unfortunate in a way that is universal and potentially species altering.

Not only would even the smallest amount of unification in our everyday lives feel better and safer than everyone going at it alone, it would allow incredible benefits. Unions, co-ops, communes, colonies and other communities don’t always work and can be affected by human weakness and corruption like any other group. But socially, failing as a group can be far more powerful than failing alone. If the apartment complex, condos or suburbs you live at start going to shit and no one does anything other than maybe fix their own home and or move, it is a number of personal losses and escapism. But, if the residents band together, accept they are all part of a community and have responsibility to it, there is a chance the entire area can be improved. Everything is relative, including how much potential power communities have. Humans, and particularly citizens, even those in one nation, one city or one suburb, possess WAY more power than they/we realize because of something as ‘simple’ to change as our indoctrination and assumptions.

I wasn’t alive in the 60’s, and my knowledge of that time is largely based on the decades reputation and not facts, but it seems to be a pivotal point in American history. It was a time when people seemed to voice their opinions and more specifically issues with the government, possibly more so than previously back until maybe the civil war. ‘Not a good way to solve problems BTW’ The vast majority of people didn’t, but despite assassinations, police brutality and other injustices from government, it seems as though communities of people had a chance to reform this country beyond one which allows government complete control. I cannot think of another time since where that was even close to the case. In fact, government, and the gap between foreseeable change from the voice of the people and actual change have grown outrageously. Maybe not so surprisingly, there are no MLKs, no JFKs or even John Lennons. Name even one celebrity that openly and regularly spoke up against the wars in the middle east. The closest we’ve come to real resistance with any impact is probably misguided, unorganized, mismanaged and failed movements like Black Lives Matters, Occupy Wall street and others. These protests on ICE aren’t exactly different. Who’s the voice? Who’s the leader or leaders? What is the exact thing the entirety of the movement wants? They don’t exist because it’s random and emotional. We’ve lost that skill we were just starting to develop in the 60’s and we need it more now than ever.

I know this became about people vs the government, but it’s where my mind leads when I think about communities or lack there of. In the grand scheme of societies, it’s what matters: whether or not the people of a nation have the power or whether the government does. I don’t think it’s a secret that here in America people don’t have the power but still could. The only way to not make that divide between civilians and government broader is to unite as people. It doesn’t have to be about immigration, abortion, gun control, corruption or any other one issue. In fact, it may be more likely to happen in mass if it isn’t since those issues are so politicized. It may be better for as many of us as possible to unite and be an actual community of citizens bonded by that fact alone; we are all citizens of America, that should be enough. Whatever beliefs other smaller communities fight for will always be less important and less impactful.

[In no way is that a comment on how I feel about ICE and illegal immigrants. People are people and they should all be treated with base human rights]