We’ve been exploring the notion of Community as a way of understanding this critical component of resistance to the dominant culture. One outcome of these explorations is that we Community builders better understand where our collectives are – see our earlier post describing Functional vs. Conscious vs. Deep Community, and the notion of Radical Community.
A more important outcome of these explorations is that Community builders can determine whether there is a gap between where their collective is now and where the collective aspires to be, and to then craft a plan to move forward.
It’s challenging enough for a Community that Protects and Resists to function as an intentional collective. The challenge is even more profound when we struggle to achieve a Deep Community, in which the attitudes and behaviors associated with maintaining and improving internal processes “have become so internalized they are second nature” (see our Characterizing Community post). To then progress to a radical, oppositional Community and continue to exist and thrive while beset by isolation, oppression, and repression, takes something special. We need commitment. And commitment takes several forms.
Commitment to coexist
In its most basic, commonsense conceptualization, commitment to Community involves a willingness to coexist; a promise, articulated or implied, to share in the development and maintenance of the Community, and to share whatever bounty it holds. Commitment is more than this, too – it is a wholehearted offering to guarantee others’ safety, survival, and ability to thrive.
For a radical Community, commitment also involves a duty to shield the collective from the invasive, destructive forces of the dominant culture and industrial civilization, to replenish and replace damages as they occur, and to ensure others understand the history and context surrounding the threats as well as the values, purpose and capacities critical for the Community to protect, resist and survive (see our post on Community Consciousness).
Commitment in a radical Community also means guiding or contributing to the Community’s evolution, beyond merely appositional to oppositional, for example. In an earlier post, we discussed the importance of cultivating a deep community (and alluded to it above). Community builder Kazimierz Gozdz (1993):
“Community, in its basic form, involves a group of people who have committed themselves to a process of ever-deepening levels of communication. Such a group becomes capable of learning, self-reflective behavior, and the capacity to balance individual and group needs.” (p. 111)
A Community does not evolve, deepen, or successfully resist by dint of some collective magic: it does so because its members are committed to each other, and to the Community, and to make things work.
Commitment to exercise discipline
Willingness to coexist, to share in the development and maintenance of the community, and to accept the obligation to shield others are critical oaths and aspirations. To execute on these obligations, though, Community builders need more than a sense of obligation – they need the discipline to prepare and follow through on their obligations. We alluded to this responsibility in our Community Protector essay.
Gozdz (1993) expands: “…community is a process rather than a state… commitment must be mustered in order to maintain it; only through purpose and discipline will the community process be maintained….
Anyone who has been involved in building a Community or even an effective team understands that success (by whatever measure) doesn’t happen magically; conflicts, changes to the mission or vision, external developments and sheer exhaustion all throw up roadblocks which must be overcome, and inertia itself is never enough to see Communities through. Elders, leaders, and ‘rank and file’ members need to internalize the discipline to maintain movement.
In this regard, commitment means viewing Community building as a discipline, and willingness to see the process through its inevitable challenges, downturns, frustrations, and reversals of fortune. “[Builders] have to hold the commitment and keep the process going, even though some in the group may become complacent.” (p. 114)
Gozdz’ comments are borne from a business perspective, but they generalize behind his intentions. He also views this commitment as it pertains to the organization’s leadership, but clearly, to us, commitment must be dispersed throughout the Community. Leaders in a Community need to have demonstrated commitment as a prerequisite to being chosen to guide the collective; on the flip side, wise Communities need to ensure their ‘leadership development system’ doesn’t just provide skills work, but nurtures a love for the collective and a commitment to all in its embrace.
Commitment to the long-term well-being of all
Undertaking the hard work of creating or revitalizing a Community and dedicating efforts toward helping it evolve set the foundation for success (a Community epitomized by Capacity and Confidence, as we outline in our Mission Statement). Missing to this point is the third facet, Continuity. Communities that Protect and Resist must also focus on the long term.
“Lastly, the only way a community will succeed is if everyone involved is committed to the long term wellbeing of the health of the group over an extended period of time. When I talk to individuals who are part of a healthy community they always express that preservation of the community and its continued wellbeing is their biggest commitment.” https://www.womenlivingincommunity.com.what-is-community/
To take the strong view, we assert that a successful community is by definition committed to the long term. “Successful communities think as much about tomorrow as they do about today.” (Morse, p. 234)
Commitment to the long term is especially important to the planet, and not just to the Community. CPR collectives will serve as alternatives so the dominant culture, and will populate the planet with just and sustainable forms of coexistence in natural communities. To do that, they must outlast the dominant culture. And to do that, they must be oriented toward the long term.
Indigenous societies understand and appreciate the long view. The Seventh Generation notion describes just how “long-term” works.
The Seventh Generation takes its name from the Great Law of the Haudenosaunee, the founding document of the Iroquois Confederacy, the oldest living participatory democracy on Earth. It is based on an ancient Iroquois philosophy that: “In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations.”
… In all of your deliberations in the Confederate Council, in your efforts at law making, in all your official acts, self interest shall be cast into oblivion. Cast not over your shoulder behind you the warnings of the nephews and nieces should they chide you for any error or wrong you may do, but return to the way of the Great Law which is just and right. Look and listen for the welfare of the whole people and have always in view not only the present but also the coming generations, even those whose faces are yet beneath the surface of the ground — the unborn of the future Nation.”
This philosophy is not unique to just the Iroquois nation. Many Native American nations, tribes and other indigenous people around the world have and still live by this philosophy.
Today, The Seventh Generation Principle usually applies to decisions about the energy we use, water and natural resources, and ensuring those decisions are sustainable for seven generations in the future.
We should apply the Seventh Generation Principle to relationships – so that every decision we make results in sustainable relationships that last at least seven generations into the future. http://7genfoundation.org/7th-generation/
This is long-term thinking and commitment. Our challenge is to put aside the short term, quarter-to-quarter orientation the dominant culture presents as ‘strategic thinking’, and consider how our actions, systems and decisions will effect our Community long into the future. You might guess, rightly, that this is easier said than done. In fact, it can’t be done at all by single individuals – we have to rely on the collective wisdom and experience of elders and respected allies to guide Communities this well and truly.
Commitment to the development of young people
Effective Communities ensure young members internalize the values, history, and skills shared by all, and essential for the continuance of that Community. John Gardner: “…mature members ensure that the young grow up with a sense of obligation to the community.” (p. 118)
Of course. It’s cliché to the point of ridicule that youth are the promise of the future, but it’s true. For Community to achieve Continuity and a capacity to endure, it must be able to revitalize and renew itself. Our Communities will never replace the dominant culture if they can’t provide a continuing source of lifeblood: the renewal of a population committed to the Community and ready and willing to place collective interests over individual concerns.
The Community must be a place (material or virtual) where the young are nourished, guided, informed and bounded, by the members at large and not only by the nearest relatives, acquaintances or friends. They must be ready and willing to take on the mantle of builders and elders when their time comes to move the Community forward.
Building commitment
- Be direct. Build your Community directly. There’s no need to finesse the building of commitment. As with building effective teams, Community builders can ask new members (in new and virtual Communities especially) to pledge to a social contract outlining roles, norms and expectations regarding how the collective operates and maintains order, justice, and sustainability. While this technique lacks romance, it can be effective. Don’t ignore the obvious in building commitment.
- Do your culture work. Social contracts can be an effective tool for guaranteeing commitment, but they often rely on a degree of monitoring and enforcement that may be inefficient or distasteful to some. Instead, you might rely on a more robust tack. From Shaffer and Anundsen: “Chief among these [timeless qualities of communities] is commitment. Commitment…requires that community members embody … timeless values as trust, honesty, compassion and respect.” (p. 10)
- We’ve talked in previous posts about the critical lever role a Community’s culture can play in, e.g., its consciousness. Pay constant attention to cultivating a strong culture, centered on your core values. Rites, rituals, heroes, myths, and stories all reinforce your values and culture. Don’t relegate them to afterthoughts – use them as ‘frontline’ guardians of your Community building.
- Do your vision work. Gozdz p 115: “A commitment to community … has to be reflected in the framework that defines the very reason for … existence. Some call this framework a ‘purpose’; others call it … ‘mission’; still others, a ‘vision’. (p. 115)
- By its very nature, an effective vision can attract commitment and energize people (Kouzes and Posner). People are eager to commit voluntarily and completely to something truly worthwhile, something that will make life better for others, or that represents a significant improvement for their community or landbase. This commitment arises in part because an effective Community vision creates meaning in people’s lives. Individuals see themselves as part of a something unique, special, and valuable to the land. And they are more likely to commit to helping that succeed and endure.
- The vision for your Community should of course tap into core values shared by members. Incorporating the long view into the development of your vision is also critical. For one, it helps craft an effective, galvanizing vision. Second, this process supports the commitment to the long term survival among Community members. How is this done? Through utilizing what’s known as the Janus effect (Kouzes and Posner):
- Looking into your past can reveal much about the future. … executives who were asked to think first about things that had happened to them in the past—before they thought about future possibilities—were subsequently able to extrapolate significantly further into the future than those who were asked to think first about things that might happen to them in the future. As a Community Builder, your ability to look both to your past and your future for guidance opens up more possibilities than doing one or the other alone. When you gaze first into your past, you essentially elongate your future. You enrich your imagination about the future and give it detail as you recall the richness of your past experiences. Looking back enables you to better understand that the central, recurring themes [in your Community] didn’t just materialize this morning. It’s been there for a long time. Another benefit to looking back before looking ahead is that you gain a greater appreciation for how long it can take to fulfill aspirations. You also realize that there are many, many avenues to pursue. (Adapted from p. 107-108)
- Prepare the next generation(s) / develop your youth. One way to start is ‘unschooling’ – removing youth from the toxic propaganda and obedience-oriented fire hose that passes for education. Instead, use schooling at home (or in the Community, even better) to reinforce a material history of the Community, its values, and to build skills necessary for the Community.
- Provide Community youth with real opportunities to build skills, learn leadership and teamwork, and express Community values through practical tasks, duties, and roles. You might think of these as ‘Internships’, or more prosaically, chores!
- Broaden the developmental experience beyond immediate family. Youth are better prepared by being exposed to (and mentored by) the Community as a collective, with its greater wisdom and experience, and greater capacity to monitor and guide.
Communities that Protect and Resist 