What is a community

[summerbreeze]

After reading another thread on this website got me wondering what a community means to many.
My views on community is a place that welcomes a diversity of people from different backgrounds offering all new ideas and old ideas on how to make the community a better place for all.

I believe a great togtherness in community makes it a far nicer place for old and young alike, it has a knock on effect of how people view their surroundings and oppotunities too.

What I have noticed not just on these forums but forums in general is that people can sometimes be a little bombast with their views of others and what they are trying to achieve.

Sometimes it might be worth sharing a little thought for those that are trying to make the community a better place for all rather than critise them for at least trying.

Humans are generally cynical of others I believe if this trait is to contuine we will never achieve a community that can thrive and survive in the longer term, it will just fade and wilt as so many have over the years.

whether you live, or work within area there is no reason we can't all pull together for the good of the community we use all use.

what are your views?
What does community mean to you?

[marymck]

I think we step in and out of different communities all our lives. We may have the community that is our family and/or friends, our workplace community, the community that is our neighbourhood.

As we step in and out of all these communities I think it is most important to think how what we are doing impacts on the lives of others within that community. And, especially, the relative importance of that community in the lives of those we are interacting with.

Therefore, if I work somewhere - but lived somewhere else - I would not expect to make unilateral decisions that will effect the home lives of those who live there. Our homes, the areas where we live, are our havens.

The workplace to a certain extent can also be a haven to some people (hence the unpopularity of hot-desking), though possibly less so than in the days when people moved between jobs less. And golly was I guilty of making a particularly awful unilateral decision in my youth! My very first job was working in industrial safety. We had our own little office block standing in the environs of a big chemical plant. Some of the engineers had worked in that office block for over 20 years and were likely to stay there the rest of their working lives. So what they really didn't need was the dippy, hippy junior (who would be leaving in six months anyway) deciding on the colour scheme they'd have to live with for the next five years. I'm curdled with embarrassment when I think about the purple skirting boards and lilac walls I lumbered them with ... I did say dippy, hippy.

So I guess for me "community" is all about consideration for others and recognizing the importance that community or neighbourhood has in their lives.

[summerbreeze]

Hi marymck,

I would totally agree with your post, we have to concider the impact we have on others, that should be a basic human trait, sadly not always the case.
Looking into my living room I personally don't have a problem with lilac and puple
I think I was born a little to late to call myself a dippy hippy
Although my hubby who cringed when he saw the colour said after it has a calm feel about it.

Back to your points, I believe if we ever make a decission that will have an impact on others within a community. Concideration on the impact it has on others must be the first reason to do anything, not what gain we can get from it personally.

The more transparent the idea and you are the more likely people will be to buy into it.

[bensonby]

My views on community is a place that welcomes a diversity of people from different backgrounds offering all new ideas and old ideas on how to make the community a better place for all.

Surely a community is, by definition, exclusive to some degree? A community is a group of people who share something in common: whether that be geography, religion, interests &c. I suppose, in a sense, there is a "global community" or, all of humanity is part of one community in one sense. However, in this sense, where it is people from a local community (such as this forum) it, by definition, excludes people that don't live or have a connection with a locality.

That said, communities, or, rather, those who speak for communities and seek to effect change in those communities must be representative and inclusive of the needs and views of people within that community.

[Tim Lund]

Yes to all the above. The word has become debased - and systematically misleading. Often when people talk about a community they mean a group of people who act together - probably for the good - for some reasons other than because a boss has told them too, or for commercial advantage. So people project on to what they see as communities all sorts of idealism - while not necessarily seeing themselves as the sort of people to get involved in 'communities'.

Summerbreeze and I are both involved in actual community groups, and feel great loyalty to them. But let's not be too idealistic. In connection with allotments I recently wrote on another topic:

More idealistically, allotments provide not only healthy outdoor recreation which appeals to people from all walks of life, but they also provide a healthy balance between letting individuals get on quietly doing their own thing, and coming together to deal with communal aspects of allotmenting. Many allotment sites in recent years have started to call themselves 'Leisure Gardens', as we have, recognising the wish of many individuals not just to grow vegetables, but to create a peaceful space with maybe flowers and a bit of lawn.

They are still legally allotments, and they work because rights and responsibilities are securely defined by law - so please don't let this legal basis be undermined.

The key point, for those who want to idealise allotments according to some extraneous idea of what a community should be, is that individual members can just be that - individualistic. No one is forced to act communally other than to abide by the rules - much like normal life. How it happens that groups which so tolerate such typical human selfishness can still come together, put on such amazing events as our Open Day - please come along, May 22nd! - http://www.khlga.com - so that outsiders say enthusiastically "You've got a real community here!" - is a mystery, but only to people who either hold aloof from such groups, or approach them with pre-conceived idealistic views about how people and community groups should be.

It helps in this to have a realistic idea of humanity, which Catholic contributors to this thread will have by virtue of their understanding of the doctrine of Original Sin. A broad church neo-Darwinists such as myself will have a broadly similar understanding, thanks to having read "The Selfish Gene", but we will be as one in appreciating what community groups can do, in spite of fallen humanity's corrupted nature.

This may not actually explain what a community - or rather a community group - is, but I guess I'm saying:

• you can't know unless you get involved
• a group whose members don't have a realistic view of humanity - i.e. themselves - will probably never feel like real community
• community groups still need a clear legal structure - it's not all just warm and fuzzy

Otherwise, the term is just waffle.

[CaptainCarCrash]

It's a nice idea but communities don't work like that.

Birds of a feather flock together.

Every man for him self, It's them or us.

The day we see communities with everyone included is probably the day after capitalism dies.
People are just too selfish to be a real part of communities that serve all of the people, they either have hidden agendas or political motives which promote or enpower themselves, their ideals or worse.

[marymck]

mike: we can at least strive for it.

[Tim Lund]

Congratulations to Summerbreeze (or was it SummerRain ) for the barbecue and official opening of the new nets at her cricket club last night - and of course all the hard work of fund raising that went into it.


Derek Underwood


Bellingham Ward Cllr Ami Ibbotson & Jim Dowd, MP


Cllr Alex Feakes

Summerbreeze had told me various times I should come down to see a real community at Catford & Cyphers Cricket Club, so last night eventually I did, and I was as impressed as I think so many people who come down to my allotments are also.

And now a few points.

First - there's no contradiction between real communities and elitism - in fact they can thrive together. Why else was England cricket legend Derek Underwood there? As he said, he developed his talent in our local community, and coming back to it he helps keep both community and the dreams of future generations to become elite sportsmen - and sportswomen - going.

Second - could our MP and the various local councillors who were also down there occasionally condescend to share any thoughts they have about how communities work with us on this Forum? Just at the moment I'm feeling a bit annoyed at the gap between the world of wonkery, inhabited by people who doubtless think of themselves as serious politicians, journalists, policy analysts, and love talking about communities, and people who actually make real communities happen. I suspect in their minds they operate on some higher plane of understanding, imagining that the rest of us merely respond to their policy initiatives.

See also this earlier thread where, as is normal in real life, there is a certain amount of piss-taking. Is it this our politicians are afraid of, or being expected to think in public?

[BruceHarrison]

The Sydenham Arts Festival really shows what a fantastic, multicultural, multitalented community we live in and is great opportunity to meet friends, old and new and see a few celebrities to boot! It’s great that so many local people are prepared to share their talents. There are events every day: music, film, drama, talks, poetry, t-shirt painting, singing dancing, visual arts and picnics and parties in the local parks, fantastic entertainment for all the family including many free events .
I’ve already sampled a few events and plan to see as many as I can manage during the next two weeks. The visual arts are well represented with 9 exhibitions of paintings and photographs already in place at Alhambra Home & Gardens, Sugahill, Blue Mountain, Kente, Gurkhas, Trattorio Raffaelle, the Dolphin; Billings (now with a butchers department as well as fish) and the funky 140 Interiors furniture and accessories shop, all providing space to showcase local artists work.
The Arts Trail weekends are still to come (9th & 10th and 16th & 17th July) with over 45 open houses and studios on our doorstep showing the work of over 100 artists, photographers, ceramic and glass artists.
It makes me proud to be part of a vibrant artistic community who are prepared to share their talents with us all.

[Tim Lund]

Yes, yes and yes - I can agree the Arts Festival is an example of a community working well - but the orginal question is what makes it "community", and my responses were explorations of how community groups work. But maybe a discussion for later.