Commonalities That Matter For (Economic) Community

Often I've suggested mutually held commonalities as a starting point for new community formation. Domestic summits, for instance, might provide means to bring individuals together, to explore the possibilities of building a productive services environment. However, not all social commonalities are necessarily conducive to positive bonding processes. What rationale might individuals actually have, for living and working in close proximity to one another, which could result in mutually beneficial outcomes?

In particular, one doesn't just throw a bunch of people together who aren't wanted elsewhere, as "Johnny" of the blog "Granola Shotgun" noted recently. He rightfully stressed the irrationality of taking groups of homeless people (who aren't wanted in particular neighborhoods or areas), to relocate them en masse elsewhere. Plus: How would anyone imagine that the native residents of the new location, would be okay with these social outcasts now in their backyard?

There needs to be positive rationale, for individuals to make concerted efforts toward progress and join forces in doing so. Such rationale goes well beyond the (albeit) understandable desire to escape unfortunate circumstance. While the above referenced blog discussion centered around the homeless, it could equally apply for other social outcasts such as former prisoners, individuals recovering from addiction, or those seeking to escape domestic violence. Even in the best of circumstance, should relocation occur based on a common negative identity, how could all these individuals be expected to adapt to a permanently close physical proximity to one another? Many probably would be unable to do so. Alas, there needs to be more to life as well, than being granted some version of a tiny house along with a government check.

Instead of attempting to build new communities based on unfortunate commonalities, it makes more sense to envision new startups in which individuals are uniformly hopeful for better and more successful futures. These are also more likely to be the individuals whose level of trust in others has not been completely shattered by previous life experiences. That's not to say that people with low levels of trust don't also deserve a chance to start over, by any means. Only that such individuals would likely need more outside assistance, until they have a chance to rebuild trust and self respect via mutually beneficial working relationships.

Even what may appear as fortunate commonalities or success indicators, isn't necessarily a good starting point for economic community. In order for communities to succeed, they need a diverse range of individuals with a wide range of skill capacity and personal interests. Perhaps one commonality in such a framework, would be a common belief in the idea of success as desirable in group context. Just as it isn't helpful to build anew from a failed identity set as a group starting point, community as social or political identity is hardly a sufficient base to build upon.

The commonalities that matter for economic community, also cut across many lines of common reference. Low income as a common denominator could provide a helpful starting point. After all, adaptation to low wages over time, could mean a greater appreciation of environments which benefit from simpler zoning requirements, cost effective building manufacture and low maintenance ownership potential. The low maintenance factor is particularly important for individuals who - for any reason - might otherwise find themselves undermined by high costs of ownership and/or maintenance requirements. Many social outcasts and others fall into this category, yet simple low maintenance environments could help bring the strength and stamina they do have, to the fore.

People may be good candidates for new communities, who have reason to believe they could thrive in these open ended free market settings. Yet not every new start will succeed, and every apparent failure would have its own story to tell, to those willing to listen. Much also depends on whether participants have the commonality of faith in the potential of their fellow human beings, regardless of one's personal disappointments and setbacks. Those who hold the belief a better future remains possible through combined efforts, may be able to contribute to a new continuum of knowledge based endeavor, based on services productivity. With such hopefulness as a place to begin anew, many other aspects of economic community could eventually follow.