Our Common Community, by Niki Raapana, UK Column, May 2010

theangrycheese.blogspot.com

Many thanks to John for sending us a copy of my article published in the UK Column last month. It's kind of trippy seeing my work printed in a traditional newspaper format. I think it's my first time. And again, our deepest gratitude goes to angrycheese for making it happen. Our friends and supporters in the UK keep us focused on the global ramifications of globalism as well as how we are affected in our local neighborhood. We learned early on in our research that many of the communitarian programs and regulations are first tested on the British people, so it behooves Americans to keep a close watch on developments in the UK.

Communitarians rebuild "good communities" and "shore up the moral, social and political environment." Our studies showed us how the Communitarians design laws that will regulate every aspect of human life. Most Americans remain unconvinced that any government can ever have the power to do that.

I've been told repeatedly that there's just no way the national or global government has the will or the power to become such an invasive figure in private households. The general reaction has always been that I am a conspiracy theorist making wild connections between unrelated issues and programs. But every year more people are arrested for "crimes" that never existed before, and every year the ACL gets new readers who have been harassed by the police, charged with communitarian "crimes" and punished for things they believed were outside government jurisdiction (mainly because U.S. constitutional law forbids communitarian laws)

Amitai Etzioni told us in The Essential Communitarian Reader that a good society seeks to curb antisocial behavior. Being a good neighbor today means working "closely with local authorities, the police and other agencies to control anti-social behaviour that affects our resident's quality of life." Since communitarianism is the final synthesis between all opposing ideologies, their definition of a good society incorporates elements from all the known systems. It may, at first glance, appear to be modeled on communist China or communist Israel, but a closer examination of the underlying principles will reveal elements of the KGB, Gestapo, M16 and the CIA, as well as Baha'i, Catholic, Protestant, Islamic and Jewish social teachings.

Under the new umbrella called Homeland Security, the global brotherhood of domestic spies training citizens in utilizing government sponsored terrorism against undesirables wears a washed up, holier face. While some of these programs have yet to reach into every American home, I don't see that their introduction will cause any alarm bells to go off in antiseptic America. We've become so conditioned to the term "unacceptable behavior" why would we defend anyone accused of it?

What is anti-social behaviour?

Anti-social behaviour is any conduct that is capable of causing nuisance or annoyance to any person, or conduct that involves using or threatening to use our housing for unlawful purposes.

How do I report anti-social behaviour?

If you wish to report anti-social behaviour you should contact us on 020 8357 5000. Temporary housing customers should call 020 8357 4531.

http://www.nottinghillhousing.org.uk/content.aspx?id_Content=50

So, how about that? Our global evolutionary destiny has brought us to the advanced stage where conduct causing a nuisance or being an annoyance is a crime, punishable with jail time. The conversion to a communitarian society has already happened in England, and it happened regardless of whether or not they joined the European Union. Notting Hill Housing just wants to help their residents achieve a better "quality of life."

"We can put you in touch with independent mediators who are skilled in helping and supporting neighbours to reach a solution that is acceptable to both parties."

What a nice way to introduce the Sanhedrin Courts around the world, eh? Talmudic Law has been revived and renamed to fit well within our more evolved communitarian world. And yes, these new communitarian laws are always easily tied into community development plans. This line off the Notting Hill page could have been taken directly from the Roosevelt Neighorhood Plan in Seattle, 1999: "physical improvements, like better lighting in communal areas; community development projects, like diversionary sports activities for young people;"

What "diversionary sports activities" appeal most to young people? Remember last year when a woman was jailed for making loud noises during sex? http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2009/04/23/noisy-sex-neighbour-arrested-for-breaching-asbo-115875-21300734/

Antisocial Behavior Order: http://abso.com/

The US Revolutionary Communist Party explains The Change They Believe In:

Obama’s notion of change claims to transcend the politics of interest while it steers sharply to the right. What kind of change does America need? Above all, America needs a change of heart: her people need to give up selfishness; all Americans rich and poor, white and black; the hod carrier and the hedge fund operator must give up self-interest; stop always asking “what’s in it for me?”

In a word, with his emphasis on change coming from people giving up group egoism and together pursuing the common good, while practicing old fashioned virtues, Senator Obama is a communitarian. In The Audacity of Hope he invokes the legacy of Ronald Reagan who, Obama believes, recognized America’s need to rediscover the traditional values of the American community: hard work, patriotism, personal responsibility, optimism and faith.

Communitarianism flows from belief that we all share a common good. What’s needed to achieve the common good, communitarians insist, is sacrifice.

But some parts of the community have to show the way in giving up their selfish, anti-communitarian habits. For communitarians, the first responders must be the poor. For black communitarians like Bill Cosby and Barack Obama it’s chiefly the black poor.

Obama insists that the key to change is not resistance to oppression; not a battle against the exploitation of workers; or against institutional racism, or the domination of unaccountable financial elites; or the interests promoting gentrification.

These all fade away compared to the need for community self-help, strengthening the community by building strong families; by the need to convince the African American poor to pull up their socks. And stop engaging in anti-social behavior. Speaking recently to a group of black legislators, Obama said, “In Chicago, sometimes when I talk to the black chambers of commerce, I say, ‘You know what would be a good economic development plan for our community would be if we made sure folks weren’t throwing their garbage out of their cars.’”^{1 {links & photo added~ niki}}

Maybe the entire world should get rid of their funny little governments and replace them with more sustainable CONSEGs (Communitarian Security Council):

http://sustainable-everyday.net/active-welfare/brasil/?p=24