Summary Of The Abundant Community

If you examine a vehicle, you may agree that it is greater than the sum its parts. Individually, the engine, battery, tires, steering wheel, and steel body can’t haul a teen to school or an associate to work like they can when they are all working together as a cohesive unit. Just like any vehicle, the common wealth of a community is greater than the needs of the individuals that make up the community. When the individuals of a community entangle themselves in a web of wants and selfish desires, they tend to loose sight of the well being of the people who surround them, the environment in which they thrive off of, and, in the long-run, themselves. In conjunction, author Scott Russell Sanders’ article titled “Defending Our Common Wealth” highlights these points as well as emphasizes creating a new vision of wealth, encouraging community over consumption and consumerism to his audience.

The statement she made was very powerful “My daughter save my life”. This quote that she mentioned really hit me. It make realized how powerful words are depending the situation and it also make me realized how a human being can change another human perspective

Sarah began with a quote which made her speech become very relatable and personal, I liked this because it showed that she truly cared about the information she was about to share and really got my attention. She then used this information to introduce her topic and the points she planned to cover. Sarah used her transitions very effectively throughout her speech and never lost her place while speaking. Her conclusion adequately summed up the entirety of her speech and even included another quote about dealing with poverty stricken children in the classroom.

A community in the U.S. is form when individuals come together base on different outlooks. “...consist entirely of refugees from other nations, that people of different,even warring religions and cultures can live, if not side by side, the on either side of the country’s Chester Avenues” (Quindlen). Despite all these differences, we can all live together as a community and form relationships based on whatever. Unlike other countries, we have freedom of speech which causes conundrum and a clique.  Though we all have different backgrounds and customs, we respect each other, even if we disagree.

A strong and productive society requires a collaboration of efforts from both leaders and individuals, all working together to improve the community as a whole. For hundred of years, philosophers have encouraged this through pieces such as: Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, which through the tale of three prisoners in a cave encourages everyone to be open to a wide range of differing realities, Cicero’s piece “Duties of the Individual to the State,” that goes through the natural duties of the individuals in a society, and Machiavelli’s “The Prince,” that explain the manners, expectations, and roles necessary for one to successfully lead people. Through these elements philosophers have deemed necessary for a community, strong foundations for thriving

Community is built of two main elements. First, community requires communal caring. Members need to put themselves in positions where they are able to relate to other members and does everything “within reasonable limits of self-sacrifice” (65). The second is communal reciprocity. Individuals will serve other members of the community, not for exchange of goods, but to provide generosity and support. These elements of community appear in the lives of all individuals, even the most capitalist ones. Humans are entirely capable of these.

While she is up there speaking through her very soul, you can automatically feel a deep connection to her and her writing. No matter what struggles you go through in life, putting yourself into the mind of someone else who might just be dealing with the same exact problems, can help a person more than anyone could think. Even though it was a question and answer with a presentation, it felt like so much more; without even reading an excerpt from one of her books, you can still hear the very same unique tone and emotional depth speak through her very words. After I left the panel, reading her books became so much more of an emotional and heartfelt ride.

She offered several examples herself, and did a fantastic job of furthering the conversation for each example and taking it far deeper than I believe most could have. She is one of the most skilled facilitators I’ve ever had the privilege to experience. Continuing after the discussion, she finished by describing a fantastic metaphor for social control involving mountains, then thanked us all and sent us out with many pages of further reading and

In “The Abundant Community,” both authors John McKnight and Peter Block discuss their ideas on “the citizen way” of life, and the downfalls of “the consumer way,” and how to avoid them. For instance, the authors believe in the goodness that is “the citizen way,” and that if we learned to trust in our neighbors we could build a strong community that can provide security. As well as, obtaining a better income by talking to people in one’s community about future employment. However, if we continue to depend on “the consumer way” we as a community will live an unsatisfied and disconnected life. We are so advanced in technology that we are able to obtain almost anything from the comfort of our own homes, which limits social interaction. Moreover,

After reading chapters one though four, I now have a better understanding of the citizen way and the consumer way. The authors described the citizen way as, “one who is a participant in a democracy regardless of their legal status. It is one who chooses to create the life, the neighborhood, the world from their own gifts and the gifts of others.” They then described the consumer way as, “one who has surrendered to others the power to provide what is essential for a full and satisfied life.” While the two ways are worlds apart they do have some similarities. Such as, when the authors wrote about “kinds of associations”, which is just a group of people with shared views and goals. Kind of like a sports team, which the authors bashed on in earlier

I found Elizabeth Gilberts speech to be absolutely fascinating. The reference she used made me think a lot about how I connect with others around me. In the video, she states that human relationship are similar to Porcupines in the winter.

1) I thought it was interesting to hear her talk about how much religion influences our daily lives even if you are not a religious person. So many rules and laws revolve around ideas that have stemmed from religious beliefs. We sometimes do not realize the extent to which religion influences the way we believe we should behave. It also gets complicated because scriptures can be interpreted so many ways. It can be confusing and can result in conflict. People also use old testimonies and scriptures to justify what they do such as war.

In Charles Derber’s “The Good Man Fills His Own Stomach,” Derber refers to two very different communities. One is the Ik who lived in Uganda and were described as “unfortunate people expelled by an uncaring government.” The other, was an imaginary community from the Woody Allen movie Crimes and Misdemeanors. This community seemed to resemble a community from our present day upper class with only the best hotels, restaurants, and symphonic recordings. Although these two groups are very different, they each still follow the criterion of a community. Each are groups of people who have formed a sort of bond with each other because of a certain lifestyle, interests, or beliefs.

This contrarian research helped Community as a concept evolve beyond the small agrarian communities represented by Tonnies (1957), the notion now is used more elastically and can include groups of common interests based on race, interests, profession, or religious affiliation (Christians, Ferre, & Fackler, 1993; Reader, 2012a). Some researchers go beyond the idea of shared interest and communication, adding that reciprocity through the sharing of favors based on friendship is necessary for community (Putnam,

The term “ideal community” tends to us to think of the unattainable idea of a utopian society. First, let us break down the term “community”, the Oxford Dictionary defines the term, “a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common” or “a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals”. Second of all, the term “ideal” means succeeding one’s concept of what is perfect or suitable. Since the ideal is often regarded individually, I would like to start talking about the community as a group of people that share the same characteristic, such as attending the same institution. Many people would think an ideal community involves with an inviting environment, where people can enjoy their days together by a strong sense of leisure, besides working, because (let’s face it) recreational hobby is a powerful factor that makes us all have a happy life. For example, when I go to school, I think being able to work hard with