Until today. America's young rough and tumble history, full of pioneers and pirates coupled with the relentless flow of consumption-driven media and the country's strong capitalist ethos has changed the face of society and transformed the concept of community. The ever-famous "American dream" has everything to do with the individual and nothing to do with his community. With every generation, the concept of a place in one's community becomes more foreign as the individual is expected to be able to create his or her own personal wealth and happiness apart from the burgeoning shackles of one's environment, connections, or ties. A person is to pull himself up by his own bootstraps!
Even as this individualist-driven mindset has taken root in the American consciousness, big business, industrialized farming, the internet and automobile-centric sprawl have moved into many of the spaces that used to be occupied by humans, creating a barrier and a disconnect between people and perpetuating widespread withdrawal from community-oriented thinking. But there is a problem with this. We have evolved to grow within a community setting. The urge to need and be needed by a strong network of people is natural to our bodies and minds; the breakdown of strong community in America-- particularly in suburban America-- is the antithesis to what is natural to our species.
At RootsUp we believe that building strong community is the first and foremost factor in unearthing strong people. We know that every person has interests, talents, and skills to bring to the table and without a community that needs their skills, a person can easily lose self-esteem and confidence. A person without confidence about his or her role and importance within a group is prone to abuse and exploitation. Whether in the workplace or the home, without a strong community monitoring the health of its individuals, it's easy for abuse and exploitation to go on unnoticed indefinitely. Worse, lack of confidence tends to be family value, handed down from generation to generation.
It's no wonder use of antidepressants is on the rise. But while drugs may alleviate some of the symptoms for some people, it won't fix the problem. A person simply cannot pick or pull himself up alone; physics won't allow it. So we need to fight to bring community back to our people and bring our people back to community.
