The over-romanticisation of the concept of "community"

[Tooting Carmen]

It is often taken as axiomatic that "community" and "communitarian values" are more wholesome and humane than the supposed atomisation, individualism and selfishness that characterise particularly modernity and the West. However, without wishing to go full Ayn Rand-like, I would like to contest this. Particularly in many countries in the Global South, but even in many Western countries too, "community" in reality much of the time means having to fit in with the narrow-minded and petty prejudices and limitations of your (please tick off as appropriate) family/neighbours/nation/ethnic group/religious group. "I cannot dress like that, because the community will disapprove". "I cannot marry that person, because the community will disapprove". "I cannot say what I genuinely think, because the community will disapprove". Etc etc.

[Andullero]

It is often taken as axiomatic that "community" and "communitarian values" are more wholesome and humane than the supposed atomisation, individualism and selfishness that characterise particularly modernity and the West. However, without wishing to go full Ayn Rand-like, I would like to contest this. Particularly in many countries in the Global South, but even in many Western countries too, "community" in reality much of the time means having to fit in with the narrow-minded and petty prejudices and limitations of your (please tick off as appropriate) family/neighbours/nation/ethnic group/religious group. "I cannot dress like that, because the community will disapprove". "I cannot marry that person, because the community will disapprove". "I cannot say what I genuinely think, because the community will disapprove". Etc etc.

Hmmmm, I agree partially with you, but individualism must have a limit nevertheless. Otherwise it invariably leads up to nihilism.

[Tooting Carmen]

Hmmmm, I agree partially with you, but individualism must have a limit nevertheless. Otherwise it invariably leads up to nihilism.

Yes I know, of course there has to be a balance. But for Britain at least, basically I would advocate for more collectivism in the economic sphere and less of it in the social sphere compared to what we have now, i.e. a heavily privatised, neoliberal economy which nonetheless has ever-growing restrictions on freedom of speech and a climate of conformism that often masquerades as 'liberal' and 'progressive'.

[axel.aleman]

I prefer community than overindividualized modern world

[Tooting Carmen]

I prefer community than overindividualized modern world

In certain things I do too. All the same, from what I can tell you want to reduce collectivism in the economic sphere and increase it in the social sphere, which is the opposite of what I advocate. (But I respect the difference of opinion).

[axel.aleman]

In certain things I do too. All the same, from what I can tell you want to reduce collectivism in the economic sphere and increase it in the social sphere, which is the opposite of what I advocate. (But I respect the difference of opinion).

Yes, I prefer more collectivism in social sphere

[Faklon]

The concept of community is not romanticized, it has just been degraded into a marketing and political trick.

A community, a real honest community with common values will forever be powerful.

[Tooting Carmen]

Yes, I prefer more collectivism in social sphere

But when I say I want to increase collectivism economically, this doesn't mean (as some people caricature left-wing thinking) that I want to nationalise people's back gardens, stop people operating their own businesses or give welfare to people who haven't found a job in thirty years. Rather, I want to shut down tax havens (many of them around the world are under British control, however indirectly), tax excessive individual wealth and assets, such as those of our potential Prime Minister-in-waiting Rishi Sunak (and especially his wife, who ludicrously claimed to be "non-dom" until recently), and most of all I want to (re)nationalise essential services and industries, such as railways, buses, utilities, health and education.

[Tongio]

Virtue is in the balance beetwen the two, one who doesnt belong to any kind of comunity
is unhapier, weaker,and more importantly less humain, once humans are defined in a biological sense as social beings ,
somewhat like ants and bees.Imagine a bee that revolts againts her duties with her parent group, she would perish.
Someone that wants to fit
too much so to please others, and thus expect from it to be safe and inexpressive, accepts all
traditional ways and costumes as peer reviewd best way to live without deeper and serious reflexion, without curiosity, without questioning
is also on the way to disaster as nothing is static so cant be human culture, changes start with the individual observing in practice results
in his life and the life of those around him of the previously present habits and beliefs.
Comunities shaped the individuals first in a genetic level (since our monkey like ancestors) secondly we then develop ourselves using our comunity
as a foundation and reference for what we need to change , therefore manteinance of strong comunities is more important than the preocupation with individual freedoms (like how one desires to dress, or tô eat ,or fuck)
as those being possible to evaluate better is merely made possible by the prosperity and stability of the former. And what if those results are put first, what happens? Just observe our present world, how we all know to some degree its turned inside out.We were abandoned by each other trou the aparent safeness that was given to us by a surplus of material goods(on the cost of exploration of work of some,and tech revolutions),
we were deprived of non alienating work and the forced reflections on the actual
conditions of life as it realy is via contact with nature and the human process of its transformation.We were restricted to a position behind a computer where reality
is just too abstract of a comcept to be understood and there are no rewards, as there are no garanteed social nets, united by the need of the other as an ally ,from the strong human bonds it forms and how it satisfy our most essencial needs in a surprising way.

[Tooting Carmen]

The concept of community is not romanticized, it has just been degraded into a marketing and political trick.

A community, a real honest community with common values will forever be powerful.

But who gets to decide what those "common values" are? A Swiss-style referendum?