The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of the American Community

, The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of the American Community

What brings us all together are our words, our associations, our tastes, and how we choose to gather. For centuries, we gathered around a fire, around religion, in a town square, or at the local brew house. Somewhere things got lost in the shuffle as we evolved beyond the family unit, the congregation, the dance hall, or even those sweet local suds. Yet after decades of nationwide industrialization, commercialization, waves of advertising, and thus, a disconnection from what we once were, America is returning to its roots, again reveling in the company of others, and craft beer has become a central part of that evolution.

Before I go on, I must acknowledge the great article Tom wrote last week about his weekly, local beer hookup. It’s exactly this sort of thing that’s drawing us back out of our caves that we can better revel in the company of others. From what I know, prior to the advent of radio or television, whether you lived in the country or the city, folks would meet centrally all the time just to be in each other’s company to have a beer at the town brewery or whatever their thing was.

, The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of the American Community

Then in the 20th century, we got lost. We got radios, land-line telephones, televisions, and while everything didn’t just go to pot, something was definitely missing. There was once a national identity, a healthy middle-class; we had a sense of unity as Americans. This interconnectedness was driven by a shared radio and television mass-media, on three national channels. There were fireside chats, heartbreaking assassinations, racial unrest, trips to the moon, and knowing the guy who lived next door drank the same brand of beer as you, mass-produced hundreds of miles away.

Then at the same time that a craft beer revolution was fermenting, things devolved further with the advent of VCRs, video games, home computers, and other high-end appliances. We became a culture more focused on the possessions we had and less on the people we’d share our free time with. We were hard-core cave dwellers – we had our MTV and really no idea just how bad we’d become.

In today’s age of the Internet, some have devolved even further – trading in real-life relationships for following real-time digital entities and/or social media addicts. It’s been a fine trade off though. We now know more about the world around us and have learned through trial and error that while happiness, community, and relationships can be found online, they’re tough to replicate digitally.

, The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of the American Community

As we’re collectively deciding to escape those corporate overlords who’ve fed our television stories and sporting events, we now find ourselves returning to our foundation as a nation – going to the local farmers market, gathering in the town square, sharing handmade interests, eating at the non-chain restaurant, caring about where our food comes from, and knowing the guy who brews our beer down the street.

As a country, we are slowly reinventing ourselves as a community-based culture. Let’s not forget to turn off the machines and turn our attention back to our neighbors, family, and our local culture. For if we are to thrive, it all begins with us: in the town square, at the church, in the hall, and in the pub.

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