Any time someone talks about the benefit of community there is a paid-for backlash that laughs at our attempts to do what is healthy for humanity and its environment.
How did this come to be? Young children see the world through their own lives and observations, but somewhere along the way we dare not express our selves and feed back what we think is expected of us.
"Each culture tends to construct its worldview on a root metaphor of the universe, which in turn defines people’s relationship to nature and each other, ultimately leading to a set of values that directs how that culture behaves. It’s those culturally derived values that have shaped history." Jeremy Lent. Culture Shift.
But capitalist, fascist, or communist cultures are shaped to serve the prescribed ideology - a worship of kings and emperors and the power they wield, along with the court jester who represents the peasantry, the workers, the poor.
Most people do not want to gun down children in a school, nor do they want to stand up for their beliefs and risk being ridiculed as naive. Most people want to live in their private world known only by family and friends. But even this can leave them feeling lonely if they are unable to speak of who they are.
George Monbiot reports "A remarkable experiment (done in Fore, Somerset) suggests that emergency admissions to hospital can be reduced by tackling loneliness."
There have been other studies that indicate we are healthier when we have community. The sad thing is that people who peddle the toxic machismo are drawn to a promise of omnipotence no matter how destructive that is.
How can we raise our children to deal with this? By encouraging them to honour their own talents rather than feel they must be at the top. By living as though kindness matters - because as I age I have seen that it does. That is the kind of vigilance asked of parents and citizens.
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