Sounds great, but...

The overarching concept of the selected reading is that we should think of things in terms of systems. If a community is thought of as a system in which all parts of it are interconnected, one event cannot occur without affecting all the other aspects of that system. Stemming from that concept is another one that I found significant, emergence. Emergence means that all the parts of the system acting together far exceed the outcome of the sum of the parts acting individually. On a similar note, when trying to address a specific problem in a system, one cannot address that with a single solution. Rather, the system must be analyzed as a whole in order to avoid incurring additional problems as a result of shortsightedness. Finally, one of the concepts that I found to be extremely significant is the need to establish greater equity. Broadly speaking, equity entails that individuals have fair access to power, opportunities, and resources. Because more than just a minority of the community members is empowered, the community is more stable overall.

One of the passages in the reading that grabbed my attention focused on road congestion. Thinking about the concepts I noted above, it would be nice to see some of my local politicians applying these practices before deciding to build another state highway. And it seems like the same constituents lobbying these politicians to build more roads to ease congestion, are also the same people desperately holding on to the fantasy that their backyards will remain development free. Perhaps if people would chill out for a second and think a little further than what they want at that exact moment in time, there would be better growth policies in my state.

Most of what the author wrote sounds great on paper, but I just wonder how practically her principles can be applied. She speaks of community building; how there needs to be a greater sense of trust between individuals and more social capital. Thinking about the neighborhood where I live, I become very skeptical as to how feasibly this could happen. The most interaction that occurs between neighbors amounts to a courtesy nod when you walk/run by their front yard. Oh, and then one time this summer a woman called my house to threaten turning my cat into animal control for scaring away the birds that came to her feeder. I just don’t see people coming together to discuss things like forming community compost piles and how to reduce waste.