It's hard to talk about community, because it's hard to define. Is it our group of friends and family? Is it people we feel kinship with? Or is it people that we are thrown together with, whether we like them or not? Can we limit our community as anything less than the world? Can we consider the world our community, when we are so far removed from so many parts of it?
Without answering these questions, I'd like to present some websites that I think aid in the effort to develop communities.
It's a sad but true fact that today's global community is the global economy. You can participate to a greater or lesser extent, but if you look at the news at all, you see that the focus is on money. Since it is nearsighted or even ostrich-ish to deny it, the best we can do is try to make our participation in the money machine responsible. That's why I use Working Assets Long Distance for my phone company. WALD donates part of all their profits to various causes. These causes are submitted and voted on by their members. I think that WALD is a great example of a company which is involved in building and strengthening community. In addition to the donations, WALD provides information on issues to its members in each bill, and provides phone numbers to contact representatives on these issues. Lest you think that this is an attempt to make money off of what could be long-distance calls, please note that WALD allows these calls for free! (Well, okay, nothing is free, either, but it's accepted as overhead. Since the prices for long-distance are still good, I don't mind.) Along that same educational line, the WALD web site is not just designed to promote their own products, but has many fine links to other community areas.
Okay, I know it's a cliche, but the right to vote is really one of the greatest privileges and responsibilities that we have in this country. The people at VoteSmart know this, and their site will go a long ways towards helping you understand the issues, the candidates, and the political process in general. I know that we've passed the "Big" Election, but that doesn't end the political process. In a lot of ways, it's the off-season and/or local elections where your vote makes more of a difference.
There truly is a Doonesbury site, and it has terrific links to activism. Just goes to show, even the most two-dimensional citizen has a role to play in our community!
There's an old saying (well, not that old -- but not a new saying) that the personal is the political. Motherheart is a site which lists a lot of links that tread that line between personal and political. Some sites pertain more towards one; others go the other way. But it's a fascinating collection to explore.
This is just a lovely site, which truly lives up to its name. It is just a calm, peaceful place to gather a thought or two.
There's a topic that one could go on and on and on about (and at times, I do!). However, for now I'll just refer you to an interesting thought piece about building community on the internet.
You bet there are! Keep your eyes (and your heart) open!
