The great illusion of our time is that we can pay for all our “needs” without having to depend on a community to fulfill them. People strive for independence and self-sufficiency, seeking to solve their problems alone, surpassing the need for community.
Communities are inherently complex, but at their core, they exist to balance and respond to the needs of their members through mutual support and togetherness. Until recently, people relied on one another in countless ways—sharing, exchanging, and supporting each other for food, clothing, work, and more. In many ways, the absence of money facilitated coordination and organization in these exchanges. This logic functioned at every level, from small villages to large global institutions.
The privatization of money, however, changed everything. Now, instead of depending on a community for support, people simply pay for their “needs.” This shift is evident in many aspects of society, such as the ongoing push for the privatization of public education in the United States. Recently, Elon Musk called Social Security “the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time,” criticizing a long-standing institution designed to ensure financial security for all Americans. His stance echoes that of Margaret Thatcher, Britain’s first female prime minister, who famously stated in a 1987 Women’s Own interview:
“They are casting their problems at society. And, you know, there’s no such thing as society. There are individual men and women and there are families. And no government can do anything except through people, and people must look after themselves first. It is our duty to look after ourselves and then, also, to look after our neighbors.”
Many people today create their “own” communities, made up of like-minded individuals, while simultaneously lamenting the increasing polarization and fragmentation of society. But as human beings, do we not all belong to a single, greater community? If so, what does it look like? How does it function? What do we share in common, and how can we support one another? Perhaps the current crisis can rekindle the deep human need for community and serve as the founding moment for the first Universal Human Community.
