Warrigal
SF VIP
- Location
- Sydney, Australia
Reading the thread about America needing to heal after recent shooting deaths by police and of police, I was reminded of something that I haven't heard mentioned for some time now - social capital.
It is defined as
I note the use of the terms reciprocity, trust, co-operation and working for the common good which sound counter cultural in the modern economic and social landscape of individualism, self reliance, independence and competition. If any society is to be healed from whatever ails it, I do believe that this is the general direction that must be taken.
Membership of groups and associations that do not exist purely for creating profit and which require co-operation of volunteers are to me obvious examples of endeavours that build social capital between people and which help to build stronger, healthier societies.
Some examples from my country include the Royal Lifesaving Society, bush regeneration groups, rural volunteer fire fighters, the Country Women's Association and the scouting movement. Cultural groups also build social capital through co-operative activities - amateur dramatic societies, choirs and orchestras.
To really build social capital based on trust and co-operation, participation should not be limited to any one subset of society. For example, an exclusive country club where membership is restricted by income or class will not contribute to healing society as a whole and may even be counter productive. Churches where the congregation is either all white or all black could be net drainers of social capital because instead of trust, there is a growth in suspicion of the other.
As a child I was a member of a girls' physical culture club and as such part of a team that competed with other clubs at the end of the year. Working together towards this goal brought us together in a co-operative effort and winning, while gratifying, was not all that important. Later as a teen I played tennis, socially and in friendly competition with other clubs. As a young mother I joined an outward bound club as a leader and we organised weekly meetings for the children and teens, monthly outings to historic and cultural places and hikes and camps throughout the year. We even organised an annual athletics carnival which was more like a Sunday School picnic than a serious competition. Each of these activities depended in the efforts of adult volunteers working for the good of the youngsters rather than any personal gain or profit. Usually the volunteers were out of pocket but happy to contribute time, effort and some money to be part of the group effort.
My mother and aunts worked for years as volunteer fundraisers for the Guide Dogs for the Blind Society and hubby is a member of a Masonic Lodge. One grandson plays in an amateur orchestra, playing traditional Russian folk music.
I'm wondering what members of Senior Forums think about the idea of building social capital as a means of healing social problems - crime, drug addiction, racial tension, road rage and violence. What has been your experience of belonging to groups where trust and co-operation were developed in the group that spilled out into the wider community?
Conversely, what do you think are some influences that are destructive of social capital?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_capital
It is defined as
I note the use of the terms reciprocity, trust, co-operation and working for the common good which sound counter cultural in the modern economic and social landscape of individualism, self reliance, independence and competition. If any society is to be healed from whatever ails it, I do believe that this is the general direction that must be taken.
Membership of groups and associations that do not exist purely for creating profit and which require co-operation of volunteers are to me obvious examples of endeavours that build social capital between people and which help to build stronger, healthier societies.
Some examples from my country include the Royal Lifesaving Society, bush regeneration groups, rural volunteer fire fighters, the Country Women's Association and the scouting movement. Cultural groups also build social capital through co-operative activities - amateur dramatic societies, choirs and orchestras.
To really build social capital based on trust and co-operation, participation should not be limited to any one subset of society. For example, an exclusive country club where membership is restricted by income or class will not contribute to healing society as a whole and may even be counter productive. Churches where the congregation is either all white or all black could be net drainers of social capital because instead of trust, there is a growth in suspicion of the other.
As a child I was a member of a girls' physical culture club and as such part of a team that competed with other clubs at the end of the year. Working together towards this goal brought us together in a co-operative effort and winning, while gratifying, was not all that important. Later as a teen I played tennis, socially and in friendly competition with other clubs. As a young mother I joined an outward bound club as a leader and we organised weekly meetings for the children and teens, monthly outings to historic and cultural places and hikes and camps throughout the year. We even organised an annual athletics carnival which was more like a Sunday School picnic than a serious competition. Each of these activities depended in the efforts of adult volunteers working for the good of the youngsters rather than any personal gain or profit. Usually the volunteers were out of pocket but happy to contribute time, effort and some money to be part of the group effort.
My mother and aunts worked for years as volunteer fundraisers for the Guide Dogs for the Blind Society and hubby is a member of a Masonic Lodge. One grandson plays in an amateur orchestra, playing traditional Russian folk music.
I'm wondering what members of Senior Forums think about the idea of building social capital as a means of healing social problems - crime, drug addiction, racial tension, road rage and violence. What has been your experience of belonging to groups where trust and co-operation were developed in the group that spilled out into the wider community?
Conversely, what do you think are some influences that are destructive of social capital?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_capital
