An Essay on Communities and Coalitions

When we as a species began forming tribes to better sustain ourselves, it was out of necessity. Some of us were better hunters, some better cooks, some good at maintenance, and some good at childcare. Each person served a role that they were best at. Today, we don’t do that.

When looking at the various jobs, one must wonder why some are paid more than others. Is an Engineer inherently more valuable than the Garbage worker who ensures the streets and cities are not full of germs and stink? Perhaps the difficulty of labor makes the Engineer more worthy of a higher pay, but I would argue not to the degree which we currently place it; for are we all not human?

Whether the compensation is just is irrelevant to the fact that both individuals suffer by virtue of societal value. The Engineer is pressured into a position and expectations that they cannot meet, and the Garbage worker is not compensated appropriately for the value their work provides; thus they suffer.

However, while the bar of difficulty for resolving this systemic issue is high, a lower bar that can cause a equally powerful effect is community organization. While the Engineer and the Garbage worker may not be compensated equally, if both are in the same community, they can alleviate each others woes. The workers both may share their wealth with their community via taxes to the locality, or a community fund for public projects (Community Gardens, workshops, and other constructions). These projects benefit them both, and both benefit from meeting. The aspirations of the Garbage worker may be content with their position and the Engineer benefits from seeing that regardless of perceived difficulty of a job, contentment is a possibility.

But beyond the simple benefits of such a coalition, the tangible economic benefits are vast and oft’ understated. When a community is organized such that the aforementioned benefits can occur, they can negotiate with the businesses, landlords, and various entities that they might otherwise be subject to the whims of. For if even a small portion of the community protests a business or entity if they fail to agree to a deal, then said entities will suffer and often capitulate. Suppose for example, the HOA in your neighborhood may be very difficult to deal with, a community like the aforementioned can organize several leaders to then be voted in, take charge of the HOA, and change regulation or flatly dissolve it.

While the actions listed above are few, they are far from exhaustive. The power of an organized and directed community is vast and plentiful. It allows us to know our neighbor, take care of our neighbors, and take charge of the direction of the neighborhoods and areas we live in. You and your fellows should come together and work to build a better community that does not passively accept reality as it is, but works towards becoming the reality your community wants to be.