Communities II

I am restarting Ulrich’s thread on community. There was a lot of very interesting dialog which seems to have gone dormant while unfinished.

Community for me has an element of locality and cooperation, sharing space with others and using relationships to deal with issues that affect all in ways that benefits all. According to the OED Online: "community, n. … is rooted in the Latin communitas (cum,"with/together" + munus, "gift"), a broad term for fellowship or organized society.” I like the gift descriptor as there is an
element of selflessness in a community rooted in real shared circumstances, but a community does not need to be a utopia or fully equitable -it just has to have enough cohesion to enable survival and directionally improve the common lot of it members.

In more traditional society communities were built along shared resources, skills or ideals and were often closely knit. Leaving a community was more akin to leaving one remote island for

another (or a wilderness) -a big deal that might require a crisis to precipitate. Better to stay and resolve any issues rather than face an entirely new set of risks with uncertain reward. Now, there is little ocean between the islands as they have grown and they are connected by networks, bridges and fault lines that make it hard to really get away. If there is a crisis or fallout a cut and run strategy may only marginally delay the reckoning. 

The paradox we face is that the isolating factors that coerce communities to be strong are now weaker, but our need for community has increased since we cannot really leave if things break
down. But what is a modern community -amongst all the complexity and interconnectedness
we inhabit? Perhaps we need to define and enable this? My intuition says the fault lines that link us all to shared disaster are the starting points for our new communities. Does this make sense? Are there any examples? What are others in this or related networks doing along these lines? What tools are there to build community and identify mutual issues and directionally improve the lives of those affected? I could provide a list, but would be more keen to see what others think.