In this two-sided book, Rich Luker takes the reader on an insightful journey of reconnecting to what he calls, Simple Community.  The Living Simple Community portion of the book will be the focus of this month’s review.  

Building Simple Community will be reviewed in the November Ambassador Update.  

At the foundation of simple community is the concept that too many of us view life as an anomaly, spending playful, enjoyable time with others without an agenda or work objective.  Being in the same place at same time is at the heart of relationships.  Luker asserts that new technologies, like social networking, provide more enhanced ways to communicate when we can’t be together but this will never take the place of face to face interaction and socialization.  

Part One: The Need    
Luker begins this section with this description of Simple Community, “PEOPLE taking TIME to gather together in a PLACE suited to enjoying each other.  They bring the RESOURCES needed to have fun. The best times give rise to STORIES that they tell again and again. When they are really lucky, something happens that creates a TRADITION, which begs to be repeated.  These are the six ingredients of Simple Community.”  

Simply Community is not a new concept but one that we have taken for granted.  Luker feels there exists the perception that we spend time together because we are rarely alone.  However, he goes on to say most of that time is usually spent working on something, not simply enjoying each other’s company.   His goal for the reader is finding a new or renewed desire to do more little things to extend their community.  

Part Two: How We Lost Simple Community
Luker suggests the decline of Simple Community is the product of a decades long perfect storm of four components.  Realistically, one of these components alone would not be enough to negatively impact social life or stunt Simple Community.  The four together, however, resulted in an overwhelming, unintended and unconscious result.   

Component #1: The changing nature of change itself
It is no surprise to anyone that technological advances have fundamentally changed the way we live our lives.  With each innovation, our potential for change has increased.  Luker goes on to say that each advance comes so fast that we fail to appreciate the benefits and consequences of the one before it.  

Component #2: The explosive development and proliferation of personal computing and other new technology
At the expense of personal interaction, we are paying too much attention to technological innovation. In this time of explosive change, we do not have the opportunity to think before the next new thing is upon us.  Personal computing should assist with finding solutions to problems and not be relied on as the solution itself.  Luker feels certain the importance of communicating with human beings directly can never be replaced.

Component #3: America’s transition from agriculture to manufacturing, to service-based economy
Luker identifies three major economies that have taken place in America.  He takes a unique approach to looking at the impacts of each not from a financial focus but on the opportunities to be a community.  This comparison clearly demonstrates how change in economies precipitated the loss in our ability to access Simple Community as part of daily life.

The agricultural economy: In this economy, families were together most days of the week.  There were no cars or TVs and even a trip to the store for supplies was often a day long family outing.  The interactions with family and community naturally occurred face to face and traditions were valued and passed down among the generations.  Simple Community was a natural result.

The manufacturing economy: Cars made work away from home possible in the manufacturing economy.  A sense of personal pride came from your work in the factory and community was built around work life.  Simple Community continued through activities at work that brought people together.   

The service-based economy:  America is now a service-based economy where workers are tasked with providing information, not growing or making products for direct sale to consumers.  Work has become more of a job than a way of life.  People readily change jobs and work remotely.  Consequently, there is no consistent social value created and opportunities for Simple Community are significantly diminished.

Component #4: Rise of perhaps the first true generation gap in America
With differences between generations now built around tool capacities and not social values, the generation gap that exists today is much more challenging. Luker feels generational gaps are no longer caused by historical changes that impact how we think and feel but by innovation gaps that impact how we do things.  He cautions there is a major difference between being born in a changed world and having the world change around you.

Part Three:  The Solution
The solution to injecting Simple Community is easy, just focus on its six ingredients of people, time, place, resources, stories, and tradition.  Luker writes that people are naturally drawn to Simple Community; they just need to refocus on making the time and finding the place for it.

People have more time to spend on building community than they realize. Time should never be an issue if you treasure your free time and are more conscience of how you spend it.  

He goes on to say places for community gatherings are plentiful, under utilize and many times available at no cost.  Doing an assessment of available resources such as parks, churches, schools and recreation centers is essential.  People need to take the responsibility of engaging businesses to invest their resources into community events at these identified places.  Re-connecting business with the lives of their consumers is key to Simple Community’s growth and sustainability.

Stories are evidence that Simple Community is taking place.  The story illustrates what is at the heart of Simple Community not the process or ingredients.  Luker feels great stories should be one part how you tell them and ten parts living a rich life in experiences that produce great stories.  

He then suggests creating traditions can quite possibly be the most beneficial result of Simple Community. When a loved context for social gathering is found, it is likely the group of people you share the experience with will find a reason to encourage the same thing to happen again and again. “Tradition is the most powerful supporter of Simple Community because people partaking in the event are there to celebrate and honor the power of first experience,” states Luker.

Final Thoughts
Living Simple Community breaks down the complexity of the current environment we work, live and socialize in and provides a realistic framework for getting back to the basics of community life and human connectivity.  With the economic troubles facing our society, Rich Luker’s approach to Simple Community is both timely and a necessity for us all.