Differentiate a community from a mere group of people?

Answer 1

"A mere group of people" and "a community" may be difficult to distinguish. Separateness from community and merging into community are fluid, such as placing a few drops of water on a plate then tipping the plate in different directions.

Here are a long example of communities and "mere people":

Everyone in the world can be considered to be part of one major community, which is "human kind" (mankind).

One person from each country in the world do not form a true community.

But, if one person from each country in the world met for a specific purpose, they each become a part of a new "community", whether that community is temporary or permanent. For example, The United Nations can be considered a "community" bound by its purpose as an international organization, even though the members come from different countries (separate communities). So in the United Nations example, a representative from Russia belongs to his Russian community (as a country) but enters into a new community at the UN. The Representative therefore is part of these two communities.

When the Russian Representative in the UN decides to extend his time in the US, such as for a short vacation in New York City, he is temporarily and on the surface separated from those two communities, even though he still belongs to both. But on vacation, he temporarily enters the community we call "tourists". He might decide to join a "group tour" to visit NY museums, and so, for that limited time, he joins the "tourist community" even more, but it is a temporary community.

This Russian Representative to the UN, now part of the tourist community within NY, begins to feel a bit homesick as he walks through neighborhoods in NY. The neighborhoods in NY have their own "community", but the Russian Rep-tourist does not belong to the NY neighborhood community. He feels happy that his vacation ends soon and he can go back home to his own neighborhood.

When the Russian Representative packs his bags and heads to the airport, he is ending his temporary belonging in the "tourist community". He is now a "mere person" with a group identity to his homeland and family, as well as his group affiliation as a UN Representative.

Walking through the airport, the Russian UN Representative-ex-tourist is now one of thousands of "mere people" who are buying tickets, going through airport security, and waiting for his plane. Temporarily, he belongs to the current group / community called "travelers".

Finally, the airlines calls his flight. He along with a couple hundred other people line up and board "their" plane. He now temporarily joins the temporary community of "Passengers of Flight # 1xyz". During the flight, he is a passenger within one temporary community, while still belonging to and part of his UN community and the community of his homeland, Russia.

The flight lands and the UN Representative feels the strength and pull of his "Russian citizen" community. He is "Home!" He now leaves the temporary community of "passengers" and indeed, all the passengers now move back to being "mere people"--until they also re-enter their primary communities.

The Russian's wife and five children meet him at the airport. He now physically re-enters two less obvious "communities"-- one of spouse / family man, and second, father. By extension, he belongs to the groups we base on relationships: married person, spouse, father. None of these groups hold group meetings, but the group affiliation and community exists.

Stepping out of the car outside his house, the Russian UN Representative, now returning to the husband-father-family community also looks around and is happy to be back in his "own" neighborhood. He considers it his "own" not just because he has a house there, but because neighborhoods create a feeling of community, of belonging, of friendships and acquaintances and familiarity. The butcher a few doors down happens to step out of his shop and sees the Russian UN-now back in his home community and the two greet each other warmly. Other neighbors wave or tell him hello (in Russian, of course).

The Russian-UN-now returned to family man must return to work the next day. He is a University Professor who is greatly admired. As he enters his office at the college, he is greeted by co-workers and people who work for him. He has now re-entered his "college instructor/college administrator" community. He never "lost" or ended his affiliation with this community, just like he never ended his husband-father-family community. He simply temporarily entered other communities, and remains part of the UN community, but will not be part of the "tourist" community until he takes a new vacation.

He is called to a meeting of other University Officials... They want to know what happened at the UN and to hear his stories about NY City. He temporarily leaves his "I'm a professor-I teach" identity and community, and enters an administrative-officials community. He gives a wonderful report of his activities. After two hours with the officials in this meeting, he must hurry back to teach a class. He leaves one temporary community and re-enters another one.

He's now been back in Russia, in his neighborhood, with his family, for a week. It is time to go to church, like hundreds of people from across the city. His city is his community, but he certainly does not know everyone personally. Indeed, hundreds of "mere people" from across the city and from all walks of life come together to form a new community: "church community" or "community of worshipers".

The head of the church announces that in December, leaders from all the area churches will meet with other, higher, leaders within their denomination at a regional wide conference. The Russian UN Rep - husband-father-family man is the designated representative who attends these regional conferences. When he goes to the conference, he will temporarily enter a wider community. But he will also remain part of his "home church" community where he worships.

As you can see, "mere people" move into and out of many temporary communities (or connectedness) (such as tourist, passenger), while always being part of larger communities, relationships, and identities (example: country of origin, home neighborhood, home church, occupation). As well, when they fully enter each permanent community, as it occurs, they usually feel like they belong. When people don't feel they belong, they permanently leave that community (if they can) and seek another community.

Conversely, when people do not feel comfortable or belonging when in a temporary community, most people stay in that community only to fill expectations and they know they will leave or end their involvement in that community. For example, you know your vacation will end in 7 days and then you can leave the "camping in tents" community. Leaving temporary groups that create a community is easier than leaving permanent or more permanent community, where expectations of loyalty are much higher.

I used a Russian as my example, but the same connectedness and community exists regardless of the nationality / country of origin.

Answer 2

A community shares a sense of belonging, common interests or goals, and mutual support among its members. It involves deeper connections, interactions, and a shared identity that goes beyond just being a group of individuals. A mere group of people may simply be a collection of individuals without a strong sense of belonging or common purpose.