YesBut how can an individual’s loyalty to community be established?

In the previous blog I made the case that a moral code cannot function where people have no feeling of community. In the 1980s Margaret Thatcher guided Britain through the process of dismantling a belief in the existence of community. And now we are suffering the consequences, with the absence of a moral code of behaviour.

How can a sense of community be established? One way would be by starting in the home and re-establishing families as community units. There existed years ago extended families that supported one another. Aunts’ uncles, elder cousins took an interest and were involved in the upbringing of younger family members. In those days, who were or not blood relatives wasn’t always clear; neighbours were referred to as Aunty Elizabeth, and Uncle George, etc. There were eyes everywhere, protective eyes to ensure no harm came to you. Those eyes were just as affective in monitoring behaviour - step off the straight and narrow and you were bound to be caught!

Unfortunately due to economic pressures, to obtain employment, people have had to move from their home towns and family. They live in their little boxes surrounded by strangers. Strangely this isolation hasn’t strengthened the nuclear facility unit

Children have to be provided for; they “need” the latest brand named cloths, trainers, MP3 player and computer. Mothers have to work. Children have to become more self-sufficient. They stay in their bedrooms communicating with their cyberspace friends in chat rooms. Families rarely sit around a table to eat - convenience foods are eaten on trays in front of the TV set. For a family to function there must be communication. Parents and children need to set aside time to talk, exchange views, laugh, explain and plan. With family life functioning, links can be made between neighbours. People can again start caring for society and the environment around them.

Regrettably in the United Kingdom the highest crime rates occur in sink estates in large urban conurbations. The rundown, badly maintained estates provide “homes” for families suffering economic and social deprivation. One parent families living just above the poverty line survive in a concrete jungle, surrounded by crime, their children poorly educated. Any aspirations for achieving improvements are slowly squeezed out of them by the daily struggle for survival. With no hope, dysfunctional families produce dysfunctional children. Yet paradoxically a sense of being social and economic outcasts produces communities. When the world is against you, tribal loyalty comes into play. Individuals look for allies. Unfortunately the result is gang culture.

Gangs survive, because they have strong membership loyalty whose behaviour is controlled by strict rules. Members have their code of honour - “moral” codes. This can, in extreme circumstances result in murders being committed, to prove gang loyalty. Unfortunately instead of tackling the problem politicians aren’t addressing the problem they merely use it for political manipulation and self advantage.

In the era of spin, the exploitation of public fear has become a feature of British politics‘- whether it is street-crime or terrorism. In doing so large sections of society are being ostracised and demonised. Black youths and Muslims are being caricaturised, respectively, as being synonymous with street-crime and terrorism. This results in excluding them from society. So instead of building communities politicians are tearing them apart.

If an individual’s loyalty to community is to be established, it must be done in the home and in schools.

YesBut are schools capable of engendering in their pupils a recognition of the need to establish a community having a moral code?