What Does it Mean to Be a Member of a Community?

¶ … Member of a Community?

The word "community" is defined in several ways by Merriam-Webster's dictionary: 1) "a unified body of individuals"; and 2) "the people with common interests living in a particular area"; and 3) "an interacting population of various kinds of individuals in a common location." And there are still more definitions, but to be a "member of a community" means, at the very least, to live in a common geographical location (a campus, a village, a hamlet, a city) with others having some common interests (although not necessarily "unified" as #1 above suggests). Those "common interests" might be very basic: the pursuit of an education, or of a livelihood in a free market economy with the option to live in a house of any size or shape on any street or boulevard without unreasonable demands from government. Meantime, being a community member also means sharing common highways, city streets, and public places such as parks and libraries; and it means sending one's children to common schools, shopping in common stores, and observing common rules and laws.

As a community member of Highland Park, Texas, for example, one is expected to live by the letter of the law and make a contribution to the fiscal well-being of the community (e.g., pay taxes). The laws in Highland Park, Texas, which is a community within the metropolitan Dallas area, are strictly enforced, and a few samples include: there can be no more than two cats per household; the grassy vegetation surrounding one's house cannot be higher than 12 inches; no machines (weed-eaters, leaf blowers, chainsaws) shall be operated prior to 7:00 A.M. Nor later than 5:00 P.M. On week days; the maximum speed limit on city streets is a strictly enforced 30 MPH.