107: A dedicated introduction to communitarianism—w/ Jeffrey Howard of Erraticus

Do you have strong bonds with a faith community or civic organization? How about a book club or sports league? Do you live near your parents? How well do you know your neighbors? In Why Liberalism Failed, Patrick Deneen makes the communitarian argument that liberalism’s failure lies in its success. In the pursuit of individual autonomy, we have alienated ourselves from each other and the environment.

 

Jeffrey Howard is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief at Erraticus, an online publication focused on human flourishing.  On this episode, Jeffrey joins Alexsandra and Ross to discuss the ideas in Deneen’s book and compare how communitarians and liberals see the world.

 

Jeffrey offers his take on the downside of liberalism’s success, describing our growing isolation and dependence on government interventions or markets—as opposed to each other. Listen in to understand the limits of communitarianism in terms of scale and learn how a communitarian might approach climate change.

N.B. Ross & Jeffrey both regret not discussing the work of John Rawls with regard to contractarianism and as an avenue to criticism of communitarianism.

 

Key Takeaways

 

[1:43] How communitarians see the world

Meaning comes from communities (particulars vs. universal) Comfortable with locally driven interventions

 

[7:54] The three different types of communities

Place Memory Psychology

 

[10:02] The fundamentals of liberalism

Non-relational beings not beholden to communities See nature as something to conquer + control

 

[12:47] How liberalism impacts communities

Uncomfortable making demands on one another Leads to alienation, thin community bonds

 

[19:22] Patrick Deneen’s argument re: the loose relationships of liberalism

Turn to government interventions, market means Takes intention to develop friendships in new place

 

[28:35] The downside of liberalism’s success

Hollowed out civic and social institutions Associations temper extremes in human nature

 

[35:01] The consequences of liberalism for individuals

Growing alienation, loneliness (discard if unproductive) Lack of emotional intelligence + general distrust

 

[37:39] A communitarian take on climate change

Skeptical of commodification of nature Lose something when don’t know where food comes from

 

[43:20] Jeffrey’s solutions for brain drain in small communities

Advocate for completion of hero’s journey Remote work

 

[51:15] Jeffrey’s argument against the romanticizing of travel

Carbon footprint Can’t escape problems to ‘find yourself’

 

[56:21] A communitarian approach to solving climate change

Need thousands of local Green New Deals  Unify to build something together vs. top-down approach

 

[59:31] The best critiques of communitarianism

Too limiting to individual freedoms Give to person most in need (vs. person in community) Local solutions won’t scale quickly enough

 

Connect with Alexsandra & Ross

 

Nori

Nori on Facebook 

Nori on Twitter

Nori on Medium

Nori on YouTube

Nori on GitHub

Nori Newsletter

Email hello@nori.com

Nori White Paper

Subscribe on iTunes

Carbon Removal Newsroom

 

Resources

 

Erraticus

Jeffrey on Twitter

Why Liberalism Failed by Patrick J. Deneen

Books by Wendell Berry

Front Porch Republic

John Stuart Mill’s Harm Principle

David Hume’s ‘Of the Original Contract’

Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville

The Quest for Community: A Study in the Ethics of Order and Freedom by Robert Nisbet

Francis Fukuyama

Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community by Robert D. Putnam

Wendell Berry’s Port William Novels & Stories

How the Bible Actually Works: In Which I Explain How an Ancient, Ambiguous, and Diverse Book Leads Us to Wisdom Rather Than Answers—and Why That’s Great News by Peter Enns

Wendell Berry Farming Program at Sterling College

Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress by Steven Pinker

Seattle Salsa Congress

Joseph Campbell

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert

Charlie Deist’s Green New Deal Article

Blacksheep on RCC EP076

Peter Singer on Effective Altruism