People have always settled in large communities. There were reasons for that. Remote hamlets easily became prey to bandoleros or invaders. Hermits were vulnerable to natural disasters – in case of natural hazards, disease, lack of food or necessary goods they were all by themselves. There was no one to come to their aid.

Large settlements is an opportunity for joint protection, specialization and exchange of necessary goods, unification of efforts in construction, reconstruction, acquisition and sharing of knowledge, creation of complex infrastructural facilities for further development, collective overcoming of difficulties. Those were the natural purposes of human cohabitation from the beginning of history.

So why have our villages and cities today turned into clusters of individualists that hate and envy each other? Where do enemies live just across the fence from one another?

We are not capable of mutual aid, of uniting efforts to achieve common goals. We have lost interest in what happens in our communities. We envy other people’s successes and rejoice at their failures. We are convinced that everyone around us owes us, especially those who are more successful and richer than us, but at the same time we never share excesses of growth of personal wealth with others.

So what is the purpose of cohabitation in a community in the modern world? A gas, sewer and water pipe? An elevator? A porch or a road to a village?

Those who tried to organize a raise of funds or efforts to solve communal problems will understand that it’s almost impossible. When I brought slag for road filling on the street, no one helped me scatter it, referring to busyness and health conditions. I hired a person for 100 hrivnias that helped me spread the slag on the road that leads to me and my street neighbors.

What would happen if our community got attacked by “bandoleros”? Would they come out to defense or hide in their homes (“as long as they don’t touch me”)? If someone got struck by disease, an accident or natural disaster?

To whom would we sell or with whom would we share the fruits of our activities? Who would we call for help in case of any other problems?

Why do we need neighbors if they only bring garbage, noise, smoke, judgement and envious glances? The way modern communities are and psychology of their inhabitants don’t solve common problems – they only create them.

So maybe it’s time to move to the woods and abandoned villages, away from people?

Or will we change our approach to cohabitation? Will we go back to the origins, to what was the reason for living together, the meaning of which was lost over time?

Maxim Golosnoy