Liberty Starts At Home ( Part I ) Secure People Make Secure Communities

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This is a draft of an essay I am working on which I will publish here serially. Comments and criticisms welcome.

 

Abstract

 

Whether in Iraq, the Bronx, or rural Kentucky, there are inescapable requirements for a community to be secure and productive. Likewise, a community whose basic needs are met can flourish in almost any culture, government, or economy. Globalization, the Internet economy, the threat of terrorism and other issues of the moment do not change the simple rules that have governed us for millenia. We have lost track of this, and, as a result, our communities and the principles we have fought for suffer. Fortunately, here and overseas, the road to a healthy community is not complex; it starts in the local neighborhood and in the home.

 

An empty stomach is not a good political advisor.

 

---Albert Einstein, âCosmic Religion"

 

Introduction

 

Throughout the last several years of rapid political, economic, and ecological change, Food security, both domestic and abroad, has become an increasingly discussed topic. The U.S. Department of State, in the introduction to an issue of Economic Perspectives, defines the term as follows:

 

With the increased movement of people and goods around the globe, food security -- access to adequate and sustainable food supplies -- and food safety have become topics of widespread international interest. What is being done to ensure that reliable and affordable amounts of nutritious food are available to the world's growing population and how safe is the global food supply?

 

---Editor, Economic Perspectives, Vol. 7, No. 2, May 2002, U.S. Department of State

 

Concerns over food security are multifaceted and have resulted in many changes and programs: humanitarian aid to third world countries, a revival of community gardens, new registration requirements by the department of Homeland Security, and banning of various agricultural chemicals to name a few. Food security, however, is but a single aspect of a larger, more fundamental, but in some ways simpler issue: a nation cannot be internally secure without first securing the integrity of its constituent communities. A nation cannot be externally secure while it is surrounded by neighbors which are not internally secure.

 

Whenever a community depends on the good will of external power for the basic essentials of life, the seeds of insecurity are sown. Whether that power is a government, a corporation, or a transportation infrastructure, it holds the potential to wield undue power over the local community and the individual. Like Damocles in Greek mythology with the sword of Zeus balanced precariously over his head, neither ill will nor direct coercive action need be assumed; the mere presence of the sword and the imbalance it represents is enough. Insecure communities are unhealthy, irrational, and unproductive: People who feel that they control neither the results of their own industry nor the basic necessities of their lives are desperate people.

 

Free communities, on the other hand, are based on local integrity and the effectiveness of industry. People who feel secure in their ability to carry their own weight and provide for themselves more often will do so. It is therefore necessary that, not only must a community have access to the essentials of life, they must have the means, as much as possible, to provide the essentials for themselves. To that end, a community, in order to be free, secure, and healthy, must have the following characteristics:

A community must be secure in its water supply; a secure community has the means to obtain and purify water.

 

A community must be secure in its food supply; a secure community has local access to nutritious food raised in a sustainable manner.

 

A community must be secure in its health; a secure community has access to routine medications, sanitary, hygenic, and cleaning supplies.

 

A community must be secure in its technology; a secure community produces and/or maintains the tools and parts necessary for its day to day operation.

 

A community must be secure in its autonomy; a secure community takes an active part in its own protection and the administration of justice.

 

A community must be secure in its identity; a secure community modifies its own living space to reflect its unique culture and identity.

To some extent, the items on this list may be obvious. The items which are not included may be more subtle. Food is listed, but energy is not. A healthy community with access to food, water and tools can obtain its own energy, from its own hands and from the sun if nowhere else. Routine medications are included but doctors are not. A well-nourished and generally healthy community can trade for more advanced medical care or produce its own doctors. If a community is mal-nourished and despondent, no medical intervention is effective. Similarly, the most important aspect of technology is that the local community understand and be able to maintain its own infrastructure. A community which depends on technology it cannot comprehend, create, or maintain in its daily life is on a course for disaster.

 

None of this means that healthy communities are isolationist. On the contrary, insular communities are often insecure in their identity. Rather, relationships with other communities must be consensual, equitable, and reciprocal. Secure and stable relationships rarely exist between groups which are themselves unstable or insecure.

 

Identifying these items is easy; obtaining them somewhat more difficult. Fast food may not be nutritious, but it is more filling than ideals. In this article, we will touch on each of these aspects individually and begin drawing a roadmap for increased self reliance, local integrity, and a return to the individualistic, can-do, cosmopolitan pride which was once the defining feature of this country. Liberty begins at home and so does self-reliance. The steps described here can be begun by anyone, in any neighborhood, in the U.S. or overseas.

 

To be continued...