For a long long time, people lived in small, extended-family groupings known as "tribes."
A settled semi-tribal area that had expanded into the countryside and established long-term housing and relationships between households in a particular area might be one way to describe a "village".
"Community" can be based on proximity to each other geographically or a sharing of interests or backgrounds or needs. We might talk about the LGBT community or the Jewish community or the community we feel in a Neighborhood or the community we feel talking to fellow Parrot companions on an online chat list.
Close-knit groups may provide stability, assurance, shared financial arrangements, companionship, opportunities to express and share and hear feelings and ideas, chance to learn and teach and contribute, gift sharing, etc.
Close-knit groups may also provide attitudes of disliking or distrusting or evaluating or judging other close-knit groups or identities.
The United States is perhaps the most ethnically diverse, and socially diverse, national grouping in human history. It is also large and regional geographically and geopolitically. It also has states, which are partly outlined by rivers or other natural boundaries, but are often outlined by - lines that have been drawn.
Bioregionalism is about living in accordance with regional watersheds and foodsheds, with regional geographies and economies.
Groupings are often great at providing synergy and giving people in the group elements they need or want.
Groupings can also be about bonding with members of the group against other members of the group or against other groups.
Even a community garden can be a place of shared interests or micro-turf battles.
How do we notice our sense of involvement with others in a Sense of Community?
