Whatever our personality, politics, or religious belief, each of us has a choice to make.  We can retreat defensively from disorder, or step forward as mature adults to engage constructively with our neighbors.   At a time of existential crisis for America this choice matters.  It is a statement we make, both as citizens and as a nation.

If we are to protect our families, address local needs, and recover the historic promise of this American nation, we must find ways to collaborate with our neighbors.  Local communities are where the future matters most.  Safety will depend on courage, creativity, and generosity of spirit.

Nothing will degrade our wellbeing more completely than a combative attitude that alienates the very people we wish to influence or need to work with.

It is essential that the American people come to understand the role of local communities as the basis for a civilized society.  Sustaining functional communities will be essential if we are to regain the potential for a dependable, coherent, and prosperous future. 

This is a challenge because we have little experience with authentic community.  Many of us are barely acquainted with our neighbors.

Our need for safety and security is growing rapidly.  Without neighbors we can depend on and trust, the future will be bleak.

Communities are the basic unit comprising human societies, the structure in which justice, responsibility, and cultural awareness are grounded. 

We are not made to live in isolation.  Everyone needs to belong somewhere, whether it be to family, a place, or a community where we are valued.

It is in community that the individual finds equilibrium and belonging; where we are encouraged to express our unique identity, character, and creativity.

So it is that community, when endowed with the full engagement of its’ citizens, becomes the substructure for freedom and security.  No other institution is capable of serving this purpose.

In the absence of community there can be no foundation for the diversity of associations, institutions, and organized functions that form a healthy civil society.

Without such diversity of association Americans have become disengaged, disoriented, and set adrift.  It is in just such a state that we become vulnerable to dishonest, despotic, and predatory influences.

Needless to say, this is of crucial importance as we confront the social disruptions and pervasive loss of ethical integrity that characterize the present time.

To hesitate here is to react as victims rather than as responsible adults; to choose loss over promise, helplessness over responsibility.

The responsible, free-thinking person will sometimes struggle with the contradictions between freedom and necessity, or may be intimidated by extreme circumstances, but we must never give in to helplessness.

I do not suggest this is easy to do.  It is not.  What I am saying is that we have no choice.  Either we rise to meet the challenges we are facing or we will join the downward slide into chaos.

There will always be difficult people to test our patience.  Choosing to take control of the future will require that we exercise tolerance, perseverance, and self-control.

Achieving an honorable destiny will require patience and determination.  It will only come one step at a time.

What is imperative is that we take initiative, that we step forward with a constructive attitude—come what may.

Tom

You may watch for the next post on or about June 1. 

The first book is available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.  It is “Liberty and the American Idea: Rebuilding the Foundations” by Tom Harriman.  The second book is in preparation: “Conflict and Community: A Handbook for Humanity.”  The new website is being readied at http://www.freedomstruth.net.