The community is strengthened as members improve their skills in conflict resolution, mediation, facilitation, and other community-building activities. Neither legislating numerical equality nor allowing the burden to fall on a small fraction of the group will build responsiveness to the community's needs, or a willingness in each member to freely contribute his or her share. There are also more subtle factors to consider, almost universal in human culture because of their powerful combination of practical and symbolic values. Place can be very important in community identity and spirit. Another is working together.
Work demands cooperation, decision making, and trust.
Working together reveals different facets of people's characters, personalities, and abilities that talking alone cannot. By giving the group a common goal, work gives meaning and expression to membership in the group. As goals are met, the group identifies with the success. One of the most binding of human activities seems to be eating together. From the Last Supper to the PTA potluck, preparing and sharing the essentials for life provide opportunities for both a profound giving of ourselves and a pleasant social occasion.