Community

A community is an amalgamation of living things that share an environment. The individual living beings can be plant or animal; any species; any size. What characterizes a community is sharing and interaction in any number of ways. In human communities, intent, belief, resources, preferences, needs and a multitude of other conditions may be present and common, affecting the degree of adhesion within the mixture, but the definitive driver of community is that all individual subjects in the mix have something in common. This is even true in biological communities.

The problem of community

As communities form, so usually develops a collective consciousness and a set of mores. These serve to add cohesion, harmony and continuity to a group, allowing it to grow, sometimes to a gargantuan size. Once a critical mass of people adopts a set of mores and develops a collective consciousness it becomes a society. Participation is no longer optional for the individual. Behavior is now a function of being required or compelled to conform to the norm rather than choosing to give of one's self. This condition is sometimes thought of as the status quo.

Related Topics:
Collective consciousness - Mores - Critical mass - Society - Behavior - Status quo

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A natural outgrowth of stagnant societies and large organizations is an increased propensity in individuals and factions to deviate from the norm. When enough individuals and factions decide that deviation can be a good thing, a new community can form as a subculture within the society. This can be good for the society by creating dynamics that enhance the social experiences and improve the well-being of the whole. A moderate form of this occurrence is called a social movement, while a radical form is called a Revolution.

Related Topics:
Norm - Subculture - Dynamics - Moderate - Social movement - Radical - Revolution

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On the other hand, individuals and factions can decide to form alliances intent on repressing deviation, eliminating or containing subcultures, enforcing the status quo or even oppressing or destroying the parts of the society that do not suit them or fit into their idea of what the society as a whole is to represent. This may tend to diminish the capacity for community within the whole, in that a culture of taking replaces the culture of giving.

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In both tiny communities and massive societies, problematic conditions arise involving the emergence of leaders. Leadership is a civic phenomenon that introduces hierarchy to the paradigms driving socialization and communication. The structure of this hierarchy plays a key role in determining the characteristics of the whole. The methods that form inter-personal relationships within the core of a community - that is amongst its leaders, tend to propagate through the whole. If strong bonds of friendship, cooperation and skillful collaboration exist within the leadership, a culture of giving spreads through the whole. On the other hand, if strife, envy and ruthless competition is present in the leadership, a seed of confusion and bitterness could infect the entire aggregate and break down the morale of the membership. In either case, the community will effectively present to the larger world this collective personality.

Related Topics:
Leadership - Hierarchy - Communication - Collective personality

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