That's my point though, it's a view of community as composed of the atomistic unit: the individual. Even your language, 'peer to peer' portrays the community as

That's my point though, it's a view of community as composed of the atomistic unit: the individual. Even your language, 'peer to peer' portrays the community as composed of individuals. I think that individuals are just as composed of their communities as their communities are composed of individuals, there is no 'atomistic' unit to society. Even Tocqueville wrote about it: there are more and more people who though neither rich nor powerful enough to have much hold over others, have gained or kept enough wealth and enough understanding to look after their own needs. Such folk owe no man anything and hardly expect anything from anybody. They form the habit of thinking of themselves in isolation and imagine that their whole destiny is in their hands. and later: Each man is forever thrown back on himself alone, and there is danger that he may be shut up in the solitude of his own heart. The hermit isn't just someone who lives in the woods. It's someone who lives in the woods and doesn't come down. A hermit is someone who opts out of the obligations of community. To that extent I think most of us are hermits now. How many groups other than family and the closest friends does the average person now feel a strong obligation to? I'd say very few.