My job also enables me to visit communities where neighbors work together. But I also see community slipping away. I worry that we'll wake up one day and realize that it's gone. When people don't join hands for community improvement, or cross paths at school or church, they lose touch. There's less opportunity to informally settle conflicts fostered by an increasing diversity.
Conflicts escalate into lawsuits and broken relationships.
We risk losing a precious part of our rural heritage and quality of life. As parents, overwhelmed by daily schedules, turn their backs on volunteerism and neighboring, their children never learn the importance of contributing to community. Future farm families will belong to more than one community. The Internet even simulates community. Copyright Meredith Corporation 1997-1999.