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I definately agree with the community issue.
I am very lucky in that I have moved to a community that encourages this sort of thing (barter, self sufficiency, helping each other out...) However, I moved from a community in which merely making eye contact was seen as a threat in some cases. It was almost a case of too many rats in the sinking ship, every man (woman, child) for themself. It wasn't the same over the entire city, I suppose, but in our neighborhood/area it was pretty bad. (weekly - sometimes three a week - shootings, mostly by teens in gangs shooting other teens).
I feel badly for folks who may still be stuck in situational housing such as that. I have already told my children that if it all goes to pot, get here, whether they can contact us or not, get here with or without us saying "come on down".
I can see the probability of the next "terror attack" being centered around our power grid or our communications. One more reason to buy local and support your local (neighbors) farms and businesses.
Terrorists aside, with the way the economy is going, who is going to be able to afford all the exotic things we buy/eat/consume now? I know that I won't be able to.
Heck, just a few weeks back hubby fixed the neighbors tractor in exchange for a calf. I swap eggs for produce with another neighbor.
Being part of a community doesn't mean you have to "hang out with" these folks 24/7 - it means that you know you can count on them to A) be there when you need them B) accept your help when they need it and you want to help them C) let you have your privacy and not get their panties in a wad over the small stuff (and vice versa).
When hubby did hay this spring, no less than two different neighbors stopped at dif times to help him out, because he was trying to fix the mower. They were "just passing by, noticed ya had some trouble".
Are there "bad" folks where I live - heck yeah, they are everywhere - but here, they are the minority rather than the Norm.
If I had not moved, I do not know what I would have done for "community support".
meri