What’s stopping you from organizing and/or developing a community in your local area? (hexbear.net)

submitted 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) by WithoutFurtherBelay@hexbear.net to c/chapotraphouse@hexbear.net

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I do not mean this as a rhetorical question: I mean it literally. Tell us what’s stopping you! I don’t want to invalidate you, but the opposite. I’m sure people here would love to help if it’s possible. Post away!

Personally, I think Covid and the general amount of work everyone does are the two biggest obstacles to community building. Not just for me, but everybody I know. It’s nearly impossible to build a community when nobody has the energy to even play a video game together, and actually meeting up in person can literally kill you. There are definitely solutions, but we need to realize them as problems first to find them. If you have suggestions, please share them! Same goes for the issues everyone else shares (if they’re ok with help, of course).

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[-] HexbearGPT@hexbear.net 2 points 10 months ago

I think your point about the alienation of life in Houston is a good one. Most people haven’t been there that many generations, and especially not in the same neighborhood etc. which is really essential to having a city with a sense of place and a sense of community, which is where solidarity and organizing can spring from most easily.

Housing got really big really recently so i think it will take another couple of generations before people start to cohere into a real identity as a city and neighborhoods etc. Of course there are some communities there like that already, like the black community and probably some Latino areas. But in general it’s a lot of new-ish people without a lot of deep ties to each other.

America is hell.

[-] axont@hexbear.net 2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

i just try to stay hopeful. It's not all bad and I do believe in people, even people here where things seem impossible. You can't fool people forever, and there's a limit to how much people will take before something breaks. I try to think back to the sudden burst of energy in the summer of 2020 and how hopeful it felt. I try to think that soon enough we'll see more of that, more sustained and more focused, because most of those people who marched or broke a cop's windows are still around. Good moments will come, we just gotta be ready and we can't be mired down in defeatist fog. We can't miss our moments