Uzoy’thola Kanjani Uhlel’ekhoneni

Part I: Capitalism isolates us from ‘community’. Community means “ukwenza umunt’ umunt’ ebatwini”, it is both an individual and a collective effort.

In an attempt to take control of our personal lives, we form these bubbles in which we want to experience the least bit of inconvenience as possible. We are all so fixated on making the 48 hours we have off work about and to ourselves. In today’s society, it is more than necessary for us to cultivate relationships outside of the work environment, outside of the capitalist condition. And lately there has been an exacerbated  ‘alienation from one’s own specific alienation’ and ‘alienation from others, from society’ (Marx’s Theory of Alienation).

When I was growing up, my parents and their friends would alternate turns hosting everyone on a day over the weekend. This is where I learned how to socialize, how to exist outside the confines of our family home, outside of its rules and restrictions. I learned of different ways of living, if I remember correctly I realized where children came from at one of these gatherings when a couple of the women in this close-knit community of friends were all expecting at once. 

I don’t underestimate the ability of a parent to teach their child on their own, however existing within a ‘community’ triggers growth, it inspires initiative and it drives collaborative and collective action and contribution. The development of self is as important as the development of community, these two developments are also codependent on each other.  

Community gives us ideas that are to serve us as a socially interconnected unit that shares the same needs and desires of what we want to see in our society, in our personal lives. We have people hoarding resources because the everyday people are stifled by capitalism, they’re uninspired and overstimulated and are also therefore refusing to go socialize, to build ‘towards’. We are losing contribution from the brilliant minds of our time because we don’t understand the concept of community. All that people want to do is come up with a million dollar idea that is going to enrich them, to give them an upper hand over others. Capitalism discourages the thought process that all ideas and contributions are important. Community teaches us that any and all kinds of effort lead to the progression and expansion of the human experience. When a potluck is hosted, everyone brings something, nobody says ‘but oh… the meat is more important than that salad’. 

As capitalism matures and the wealth gap widens to unprecedented levels, it has become increasingly evident that governments are indifferent to the well-being of their citizens. In these times, it is more crucial than ever for each of us to recognize and contribute our individual strengths and talents towards forming cooperative unions with each other. Community is our saving grace.