So many of then keep saying 'we are a community", “our little community” and so on. Who is this “community”?, the country?, the state?, the town? Politicians love saying for 'the community" and “us the community” like it’s some kind of buzzword. I think this is just some tribal mentality of us versus them.
The extent of the community depends on the context. I think most Americans when they hear the word would think of the people in their neighborhood or town. But it can mean any group of people, like a university, the LGBT community within a city, an internet fandom message board, etc. When a politician or elected official is saying “community” without prefacing specifically what community, they are probably referring to someone’s local town or neighborhoods.
Yea but why say community instead of exactly what you’re referring. You can just say town, county, country, etc. Even with context the person next to you might interpret it as something else then what you think.
A great example is a politician giving a speech in a town and saying “I’m going to fight for this community and make it better”. The town? the county? The country? Why say it in a vague way?
They are different things. Saying “community” IS using the word for exactly what they are referring to. A city is a legal artifice. A community is a group of people with social connections to each other. Different things.
Why say it in a vague way?
Because being vague in that context is the point. So that they can recontextualize it later, when quotes in a different group/setting. People who see or hear that speech or sound it’s can simply perceive themselves as part of the referenced community and feel included and spoken for.
Just because it’s possible to be more correct doesn’t mean it’s wrong.
Because Americans are so starved for community and businesses, politicians, etc. know that they can get people to buy in if they make it seem like their business or campaign or organization will give them the social bonds they lack.
usually they mean their church or town but I think I have maybe heard it as high as the national level but feels like most of the time I think its about the local one. Don’t think I have ever heard us the community. Sounds wierd to my ear. I think like anything it can be tribal when taken to far. Its like patriotism is not totally bad. I think its when its false or inscincere that you really get bad things. When foundational good things are ignored about a society to just make a blanket we ware great and everything we do is fine even if we break our own rules. Its like the flag wavers in the us vs folks who talk about the constitution. One is just a nationalism for nationalisms sake and another is talking about the foundation of the society and how it involves rights and democratic structure.
It’s code for “Us, not them.”
“Who’s them?”
“You know…. the others.”
