You know the kind I mean. One where you had real neighbors. And they had a good neighbor, too. One where everybody, even the kids, knew everybody else and really cared about them. I'm inclined to wonder whether that sort of community was ever very common.
Community is more important than individualism.
Sometimes, there is an evangelical wish to teach these values to community members, or to help them discover that this is, deep down, what they already believe. Many see true community as embracing a diverse assemblage of self-actualizing individuals. Liberty, too, is a primary good. The suggestion that communities must strike a balance between individualism and communitarianism does little to resolve particular controversies. The federal and state governments have backed away from earlier commitments to support community development and social welfare programs.