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I've seen this in a lot of socialist circles -- an emphasis on building resilient communities, supporting your neighbors and fellow workers, and trying to lift

I've seen this in a lot of socialist circles -- an emphasis on building resilient communities, supporting your neighbors and fellow workers, and trying to lift everyone up. I expect that there will be a strong reaction on this forum to the word 'socialist', but the communities you describe definitely still exist.

nicoburns 6y ago
> the communities you describe definitely still exist I agree that they do exist. But they don't seem to be mainstream as they once were, and I'd very much like to change that.
- Pfhreak 6y ago
  Me too! Join the DSA! :D But also, historically, these sorts of communities have been targeted by governments. Police literally went to war with unions to break up community power for coal miners. While communism is different than socialism, there's a huge public smear campaign trying to couple those two together. (And, in fact, historically there were major pushes to blacklist folks who were connected to communism.)
jpttsn 6y ago
But how would this idea work on a national scale?
- bittercynic 6y ago
  Use popular media to normalize inviting your neighbors round for a bbq, asking your handy neighbor for help when you have a plumbing problem, regularly say hello and sometimes have a chat/catch up with neighbors to maintain lines of communication to make the above possible.
  - tartoran 6y ago
    Basically using popular media to make people interact more IRL, suggest people consume less and basically de-throne media goes against the aligned incentives of the whole system and its success. Did we paint ourselves into a corner? Ok, the paint will dry eventually but it might be a completely different color from when it was wet.
- Kluny 6y ago
  Does it need to work on a national scale? Sometimes the best solutions come from the bottom up. On a national scale, the government just needs to get out of the way.
burntoutfire 6y ago
How many of them implemented it?
- Pfhreak 6y ago
  Quite a few. Maybe not at the national scale as much, but definitely at the community scale. For instance, socialists in Seattle are collecting donations to buy school supplies, laptops, tablets, etc. for kids who are unable to afford them while attending school from home. Another thing is paying bail for people who cannot afford it.
cylon13 6y ago
Interesting. At the risk of mentioning another trigger word I'll say the importance of supporting your community comes up a lot in libertarian circles as well. I think it shows that regardless of your political leanings or opinions on the responsibilities of the government, people in general value community and support circles.
- PaulDavisThe1st 6y ago
  The problem is that people disagree on (1) the size/scope of "a community" (2) the obligations a person has to said "community". It gets more complicated because the size and the obligations vary depending on what is being discussed. Most people are fairly comfortable with the idea of some kind of responsibility (even just taxes) towards national defense. Not many people are comfortable with the idea that they have responsibility for fixing the little bridge that crosses the small river in a town 300 miles away.
dfxm12 6y ago
If "socialism" triggers a strong reaction, so should "Christianity" trigger the same reaction. It's hard to decouple Christianity, and Christ himself, from a lot of socialist ideals. There is some explanation here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_socialism#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_socialism#History
germinalphrase 6y ago
People naturally operate more socialistically on a familial and friend basis. Perhaps, when we were more dependent on our local community for goods, services, protection, etc. we were more willing to extend this boundary further, but this is not our current economic/social order.
- PaulDavisThe1st 6y ago
  There's a famous summary of human nature: people are cooperative, altruistic and non-violent towards their in-group, and distrustful, violent and selfish towards their out-group. I try to look at the long arc of human history as basically the story of how we grow the size of the "in-group" and shrink the size of the "out-group". It isn't easy, but we have made significant progress over the centuries.
  - germinalphrase 6y ago
    I would be interested in some good resources on this if anyone has the background.
    - clairity 6y ago
      Humankind by rutger bregman is a current book on the topic.

nicoburns 6y ago

> the communities you describe definitely still exist I agree that they do exist. But they don't seem to be mainstream as they once were, and I'd very much like to change that.

Pfhreak 6y ago
Me too! Join the DSA! :D But also, historically, these sorts of communities have been targeted by governments. Police literally went to war with unions to break up community power for coal miners. While communism is different than socialism, there's a huge public smear campaign trying to couple those two together. (And, in fact, historically there were major pushes to blacklist folks who were connected to communism.)

jpttsn 6y ago

But how would this idea work on a national scale?

bittercynic 6y ago
Use popular media to normalize inviting your neighbors round for a bbq, asking your handy neighbor for help when you have a plumbing problem, regularly say hello and sometimes have a chat/catch up with neighbors to maintain lines of communication to make the above possible.
- tartoran 6y ago
  Basically using popular media to make people interact more IRL, suggest people consume less and basically de-throne media goes against the aligned incentives of the whole system and its success. Did we paint ourselves into a corner? Ok, the paint will dry eventually but it might be a completely different color from when it was wet.
Kluny 6y ago
Does it need to work on a national scale? Sometimes the best solutions come from the bottom up. On a national scale, the government just needs to get out of the way.

burntoutfire 6y ago

How many of them implemented it?

Pfhreak 6y ago
Quite a few. Maybe not at the national scale as much, but definitely at the community scale. For instance, socialists in Seattle are collecting donations to buy school supplies, laptops, tablets, etc. for kids who are unable to afford them while attending school from home. Another thing is paying bail for people who cannot afford it.

cylon13 6y ago

Interesting. At the risk of mentioning another trigger word I'll say the importance of supporting your community comes up a lot in libertarian circles as well. I think it shows that regardless of your political leanings or opinions on the responsibilities of the government, people in general value community and support circles.

PaulDavisThe1st 6y ago
The problem is that people disagree on (1) the size/scope of "a community" (2) the obligations a person has to said "community". It gets more complicated because the size and the obligations vary depending on what is being discussed. Most people are fairly comfortable with the idea of some kind of responsibility (even just taxes) towards national defense. Not many people are comfortable with the idea that they have responsibility for fixing the little bridge that crosses the small river in a town 300 miles away.

dfxm12 6y ago

If "socialism" triggers a strong reaction, so should "Christianity" trigger the same reaction. It's hard to decouple Christianity, and Christ himself, from a lot of socialist ideals. There is some explanation here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_socialism#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_socialism#History

germinalphrase 6y ago

People naturally operate more socialistically on a familial and friend basis. Perhaps, when we were more dependent on our local community for goods, services, protection, etc. we were more willing to extend this boundary further, but this is not our current economic/social order.

PaulDavisThe1st 6y ago
There's a famous summary of human nature: people are cooperative, altruistic and non-violent towards their in-group, and distrustful, violent and selfish towards their out-group. I try to look at the long arc of human history as basically the story of how we grow the size of the "in-group" and shrink the size of the "out-group". It isn't easy, but we have made significant progress over the centuries.
- germinalphrase 6y ago
  I would be interested in some good resources on this if anyone has the background.
  - clairity 6y ago
    Humankind by rutger bregman is a current book on the topic.