Ethically, it is too heroic to expect people to do for one and all as much as they will do for their own communities. At the same time, though, we should use tax breaks to encourage the better-off communities to help the more needy ones. The most important thing is that we should angle public policy to ensure that it helps communities to survive and grow, rather than the opposite. Vibrant communities need schools, post offices, banks and shops. For the sake of economic or administrative efficiency, it may seem to make sense to consolidate such services.
Critics object that communities can be authoritarian and oppressive.
And so they often have been. We should not tolerate communities that wish to practise child labour or female circumcision, or those that force young girls into marriage with much older men against their will. But this is where the state steps in, to protect basic rights, including free speech, assembly and so on. Unfettered communities are no better than unfettered markets or states. Balance is at the core of the Third Way.