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The way to the good life is not through consumption. It is, instead, a path that we make by walking it with those who surround us. It is the way of a competent community recognizing its abundance. We, together, become the producers of a satisfying future. We see that if we are to be citizens, together we must be the creators and producers of our future. And if we want to be the creators and producers of our future, we must become citizens, not consumers. A consumer is essentially dependent on the creations of the market and in the end produces nothing but waste.

Think of your Community. What do you have an abundance of? How might you use this to create something together, to benefit each other and the wider world? How might this change the relationships between neighbors and change the self-understanding of all who participate?

McKnight, John. The Abundant Community: Awakening the Power of Families and Neighborhoods(p. 18). Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Kindle Edition.

In our effort to find satisfaction through consumption, we are converted from citizen to consumer….

One social cost of consumption is that the family has lost its function. It is no longer the primary unit that raises a child, sustains our health, cares for the vulnerable, and ensures economic security. The family, while romanticized and held as a cultural ideal, has been a casualty of the growth of consumption and therefore lost much of its purpose. Its usefulness has been compromised.

The second social cost is that, in too many cases, we are disconnected from our neighbors and isolated from our communities. Consequently, the community and neighborhood are no longer competent. When we use the term community competence, we mean the capacity of the place where we live to be useful to us, to support us in creating those things that can be produced only in the surroundings of a connected community.

When they are competent, communities operate as a supportive and mediating space central to the capacity of a family to fulfill its functions.

How is “where you live” useful to you? If you are struggling to answer, look for clues in where you buy things and who you trust to help you. Is there a service or good that you could buy from someone you know or live in proximity with? Is there something you pay someone to help you with that you could pay a neighbor or friend to do? Or, could maybe even ask someone to do as a friend, paying them or bartering in order to build the shared relationship with that person?

It’s easy to assume we buy our way to satisfaction, but generosity, trust, and vulnerability go a lot further in reaching satisfaction and security.

McKnight, John.The Abundant Community: Awakening the Power of Families and Neighborhoods (pp. 9-10). Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Kindle Edition.

A citizen is 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. Many who have the full legal rights assigned by their country continue to wait for others to provide them with satisfaction and contribute little to democracy or the well-being of their community. At the same time, there are major contributors to community and democracy who do not enjoy the legal status of “citizenship.” [Nevertheless, these people still] function as full participants in what is necessary for a democracy to work.

A consumer is one who has surrendered to others the power to provide what is essential for a full and satisfied life. This act of surrender goes by many names: client, patient, student, audience, fan, shopper. All customers, not citizens. Consumerism is not about shopping, but about the transformation of citizens into consumers.

Citizenship is a hotly debated political subject. Look for ways to participate in this discussion by contacting elected officials and supporting grassroots organizations assisting refugees and undocumented neighbors. As you do, consider, how might I call everyone I meet into deeper participation in our community? How might I loosen the grip of consumer culture on my life, noting and offering “care” in ways that move beyond transaction? 

McKnight, John. The Abundant Community: Awakening the Power of Families and Neighborhoods (p. 7). Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Kindle Edition.

Our institutions can offer only service—not care—for care is the freely given commitment from the heart of one to another; it cannot be purchased. As neighbors, we care for each other. We care for our children. We care for our elders. We care for those most vulnerable among us. It is this care that is the basic power of a community of citizens. Care cannot be provided, managed, or purchased from systems.

Health, safety, environment, economy, food, children, and care are the seven responsibilities of an abundant community and its citizens. They are the necessities that only we can fulfill. And when we fail, no institution or government can succeed. Because we are the veritable foundation of the society.

What is one way, this week, in which you can bring forth health, safety, and care in your relationships. Think of your neighborhood or association. What conversations are being had about these three responsibilities? Notice who is often the “fall guy” for these stories we tell, who are the “go tos” for making your home and community more healthy, safe or caring? Now, consider, what is one way I could accept more responsibility for one of these things? Mowing a lawn of an abandoned house, offering a ride to an elderly person, offering to tutor a kid or throw ball with them, walking the neighborhood and talking to strangers increasing the eyes on the street? It is easy to abdicate our responsibility by blaming problems on those systems we want to care for us. Taking simple steps of responsibility strengthens our own sense of freedom as well as our community’s sense of belonging.

McKnight, John. The Abundant Community: Awakening the Power of Families and Neighborhoods (p. 4). Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Kindle Edition.

In a communal culture, everything is personal, neighbors know me by name, I am valued, I have gifts to offer the community. There is opportunity for gifts to be given. There is an order to how we organize our world, but it is not rigid. There are creativity and spontaneity. There is tragedy, and we mourn and move on together and know that we have found our way. Families and neighborhoods have reclaimed their functions in achieving the aspirations we share for our children, our health and security, our environment and economic enterprises. Three other cultural traits of an abundant community are worth noting: the way it treats time, allows for silence, and values storytelling. 

Chaos theory in physics says that atoms move in chaotic ways, it can’t be mapped, until it comes together to form something and moves towards some sense of order.  Physicists call the fundamental nature of how atoms work “relationship”.  In our communities, we know that relationships can be messy, chaotic, and sometimes painful.  Yet, there are gifts flowing, and as we recognize those gifts, we begin to see creative possibility, imagination, and innovation in how we relate and organize as we claim our agency in community and tell the stories of how we come together.

How do you make time for Chaos?  How do you feel about the current balance in your week between the stories you consume through media like Netflix and YouTube and the time you make to hear stories from your neighbors or strangers whom you encounter face to face in your community and workspace?

Slow down for 2 more minutes to take account: Is there one decisionyou could make today to create a little more time to hear such stories? Share this decision with someone else while its fresh in your mind: a phone call, a note, or a memo to share more next time you’re with them.

McKnight, John. The Abundant Community: Awakening the Power of Families and Neighborhoods (p. 92). Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Kindle Edition.