ROAD TO RECOVERY Building a community-based Nation By C. Alex Jones We often look at the forest and not see the trees. If the government of a nation is the forest then the communities are its trees. One cannot thrive without the other; if the trees are fragile and brittle, the forest will be dreary and flaky. Show me a nation with good, well-governed and self-empowering communities and I’ll show you a prosperous nation. Show me a nation that has a centralized government and I will show you a place of destitution, poverty and underdevelopment- especially, for those away from the capital. Early Europeans built their nations around city-states, lords, and local autonomy communities- completely self-determined and progressive. The founding fathers of America built their nation around colonies or sovereign states which now make up the United States, with self-determination and purpose. China went one step further, although not by choice, and created self-governing provinces and entire autonomous states now called Hong Kong and Taiwan. Be it as it may, these super-powers are all flourishing today as a result of their nations being built on the strength of vibrant local communities and economies. The idea that the interests of a man or woman living some 100 miles from the capital will be vigorously advocated for by another man or woman, who in fact does not reside in that area, is preposterous. Every man or woman, in every town, city and community (near or far from the city capital) has an inherent duty to advocate, command and determine his or her own future and demand their right to the shared wealth of the nation, as the colonies did in America, the Lords in England and the Taiwanese and Hong Kongnese in China. Developing Liberia’s communities may be just as challenging but if these communities in Liberia engage and demand more autonomy and investment in their communities, the entire country will prosper. They should start planning and conducting their community’s economic development future. A community development Co-operative and a community credit union, established and controlled not by the government, but by the residents in that community themselves, should lay the foundation for a self-empowering community. These vibrant communities will now become the “trees” that make up the “forest” for which our nation is embedded.
Posted on: Fri, 05 Jul 2013 02:09:58 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015