Authenticity

In our last class we discussed, both in small groups and as a class, what factors we believed were the essential concepts to establishing a flourishing community. Not being able to gather my thoughts in the moment, I took a back seat in the classroom and listened to what other groups, and even my own group-mate, had to say. I was waiting for a light to go on in the attic, but it never did. Although people raised fabulous points, it was evident that I needed to stew on this "concept of a concept" more. 

In my opinion, the essential ingredient to a successful community is authenticity. In reading the Block, I found that the idea of authenticity in a community really resonated with me. There is an old saying that "what's good for the goose is good for the gander," and I appreciate Block's direct challenge of that notion. This is to say that not every community can benefit from emulating another communities efforts. Block rejects the idea of "importing" social fabric and successful communities, and challenges communities to create an identity for themselves. The challenge lies in resisting conformity and "going with the grain," and urges communities to identify and maintain an authentic individual identity as a whole.

So, how does a community do this? Or, to put a CP spin on it, in what ways/to what extent does social capital  and individuality reinforce the idea of authenticity in a community? 

Social capital, as manifested by Putnam, is the quality and/or strength of various relationships within a community. To establish one's community as "successful" or "distinguished" one must come to realize that dialogue, as proposed by Erhard, is at the heart of social capital. That constant flow of communication will assist in progressing a community invaluably. As dialogue becomes a prominent part of one's community, it is also important to converse about an individual's or a group's gifts, as opposed to their deficiencies (as highlighted by McKnight). My high school voice teacher once told me, in reference to my frustration with the slow progress of a growing voice, "Imagine you're driving. As you're driving, you look to the gutter at the side of the road instead of focusing on your destination which lies ahead. If you look in that gutter long enough, you'll never reach your intended destination, you'll just end up crashing in the gutter." This is to sat that no good can ever come from focusing on one's handicaps. Communities have to think about the gifts they possess, including those of groups and individuals, and conceptualize how they can authenticate a communal identity. 

Another key point to the success of a community, is not so much the focus on, but the acknowledgment of the individual. What does each person bring to the table? When each person is thought to be indispensable and has a hand in creating something, by lending their individual gifts to the community, it is suggest by Block that each person will then be committed to the project. In this way the individual reinforces the idea of the whole. Thus, the whole achieves the ultimate goal of authentic individual identity seeing as each community, as a whole, is chock-full of members who are active and individual to their community.