The structure of modern society has allowed our community muscles to atrophy leaving us isolated and unsure where to start to make change.

Outsourcing Noticing. We are not acclimated to keeping an eye out for solvable issues in our area. We generally expect the city to notice and address issues (we pay them to, after all). Our role is to complain to the city if an issue gets too noticeable or annoying.

Outsourcing Problem Solving. We are not acclimated to noticing problems. We are also not acclimated to solving them. Solving problems usually includes knowing who has the right expertise, who has the right equipment, who has the right raw materials, transport vehicles, etc. When we outsource these functions to the city completely we do not need to know this information, so we typically lose the connections that would have been necessary to coordinate, or even imagine coordinating complex projects like water management, food management, or electrical grids.

This state of affairs is fine as long as the cities we have outsourced our knowledge to continue to function, but in order to build communities that are resilient to political upheaval I think we need to make a concerted effort to regain these lost skills. Teach your kids to notice problems and identify potential solutions. Try to understand where your water and electricity comes from, at least on a basic level. Get to know someone who works at the power plant. Find out who has what skills in your community, and think of what skills you might have to offer them. By practicing noticing and problem solving, we build strong community connections that better equip us to react to change safely and effectively.