Letter to the Editor: Restoring our sense of community

Now that your rural town meeting is over, what was the attendance like? My guess is that even though it was Super Tuesday the actual attendance was smaller, if not much smaller, than it used to be even though the population is likely much larger.

Where is the sense of “community” now in rural towns? When we moved to the then-largely farming community of Washington, Vt. in 1968, there was a really strong sense of community. As soon as we moved here two other families who lived in town invited us to come for dinner. That rarely, if ever, happens anymore. Back then most everybody in town knew most everybody else or at least knew who lived in what homes. Now most people know very few others. In fact, often people don’t even know their neighbors.

There are three primary reasons for the loss of sense of community. A main one is population growth. In our town the population size in 1950 was about 650 and now it is about it is about 1,150 – almost double in size. The more people there are the more difficult it is to know everyone. Another factor is that with the dairy farms almost all gone people are now commuting long distances to work which takes away time although I commuted a long distance but still managed to be very active in my community. And a third factor is that instead of connecting as a community people are now mainly only connecting on social media and spending time watching a lot of television which they didn’t used to do. Some community organizations still exist and we should certainly be grateful to the many people who do volunteer for the local fire department, support their local churches, coach youth sports, and look after their neighbors by doing things like delivering Meals on Wheels.

In conclusion, it is very important to realize that a primary human need, no matter what your age or background, is to feel connected to other people. As Vermont author Miles Sherts says in his book “Conscious Communication,” “As we face any number of looming global catastrophes, our continued existence on earth will likely hinge on our ability to get along with each other. In the era ahead, cooperation will be the important skill, and building community will become essential to support life.”

George Plumb

Washington, VT