The POWER of Community

Let me tell you a little story about a girl I know.

An old friend of mine, to which we will refer to as "D", finds out that a little boy she knows has cancer. The little guy's Mother has to leave her job in order to care for her sick 2 year old son. Money is going to be tight for this family and they don't know how the bills are going to be paid. What does "D" do? She jumps into action to help her friend's family by using her blog to draw attention to the family's situation. Before you know it, hundreds of people are following this little guys' story and praying for his healing. Then the ball really starts rolling and donations start pouring into a fund set-up for the family. One person tells one person who then tells another. Complete strangers paying it forward. That is the power of community finding a solution.

When our Founding Fathers were building the framework of our Country, they believed in individuals, family, and community over government. Government interference has always been intended as an absolute last resort. There are too many belonging to the masses of our nation that believe it's the nation's job to solve their individual problems. First we had the mortgage modification plan, then we had the $7K first time home buyer rebate. Debuting April 5th, is a program that will pay banks to allow homeowners to sale their homes for a loss and give the homeowners a little extra cash for "relocation assistance". When does it end? Keep on doling out the incentives and no one will ever learn the lessons this crisis laid at our feet. This housing bubble has been a shit storm brewing for years. Cheap and easy credit....people too ignorant to care and got in way over their heads. When ignorant people are given the opportunity to walk away from mistakes, they are bound to repeat them over and over again. They will be lining up at the dealerships for the Cash for Clunkers II because they couldn't make the payments on the first vehicle they were enticed to buy at the Cash for Clunkers I program.

Do you remember a time when you knew all of your neighbors? Do you remember a time when generations of family members lived in the same home? Do you remember helping out the guy sitting next to you in church with a food drive because times were tough for his family? Or donating what you can to help out a family like the story above. Something tells me we need to get back to the basics.