Other cultures simply rushed in to fill the vacuum. Similarly, concentrations of power in state-run societies where culture was officially determined rather than locally maintained have not passed the test of time. Take away a community of culture and its relative associations of beliefs, values, traditions, lifestyles, imagination, ideas, heritage, spirit and worship, sharing, and learning, and you have disembodied souls, islands, with television as the lifeline to collective identity, civic culture, and state dependency. If community culture is an endangered species, civilization is an endangered species. Yet, in communities throughout Michigan, it is my belief that out of the sense of loss there is growing a powerful desire for community.
Desire underlies new associations.
It will not be enough to measure the impact of strong, vigorous community culture. Culture is a continuing investment in quality of life. Like other investments, both material, and what Putnam calls social, capital will be required for communities to survive and to flourish. We're going to need a good deal more investment in the culture of the local and the authentic, in the history, heritage, collective ideas and beliefs of people and their journeys in communities, if we want the future communities of democracy strengthened by the organic bonds of cultural, civic, and commercial engagement. Send comments and questions to Michigan Humanities Council .