Highlights From The Comments On Liberalism And Communities

Aug 15, 2025

Explore the diverse world of communities, from foam combat groups to the intricate dynamics in Hasidic towns. The discussion reveals how wealth shapes social ties, highlighting the challenges of belonging in affluent societies. Uncover the delicate balance between secular jobs and religious practices, and how government repression impacts community building in a liberal landscape. Dive into the evolving nature of connections, showcasing the contrast between tight-knit, poorer communities and fragmented ones in wealthier areas.

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ANECDOTE

Portable Religious Systems Ease Community

Justin notes Latter-day Saints provide a near-identical Sunday experience worldwide that eases relocation.
That institutional portability makes Mormon-like models effective entrepreneurs of community.

ANECDOTE

Immigrant Networks Form Dense Enclaves

Abrima recounts Indian-majority neighborhoods and apartment blocks forming high-density ethnic communities.
He shows economic means and newcomer networks can create concentrated, lasting enclaves.

INSIGHT

Private Enclaves Can Reproduce Politics

Scott highlights Return to the Land as a movement of private, heritage-based communities aiming territorial separation.
He notes such efforts can replicate broader political preferences but add procedural hurdles.

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[Original post: Should Strong Gods Bet On GDP?]

1: Comments About The Theory 2: Comments About Specific Communities 3: Other Comments

Comments About The Theory

Darwin writes:

I think you may (*may*, I'm not sure) be vastly underestimating how many people are in some form of nontraditional tight-knit community.

Notice that many of the communities you list are things you've directly personally encountered through your online interests or social circle. Most people have never heard of libertarian homesteaders or rationalist dating sites, perhaps you have also never heard of the things most other people belong to.

For my part, I have been part of a foam combat ('boffer') organization since college. You may want to say 'that's not a community, that's just a hobby', but the people in this sport form a strong community with tight bonds outside the game itself. Not only do I go to practices twice a week, I have 2 D&D games and 1 board game night every week with mostly members of the community, members of the community are my friends that I go out to movies and dinners with, play video games with voice chat on Discord with, talk to online in Discord servers and web forums and group chats, go to parties with and gossip about with other community members. Aside from attending over a dozen weddings of community members (mostly to other community members), I've served as best man for 2 members and wedding officiant for 2 other members. The sport itself has houses, guilds, and fighting units, all with their own ethos, credos, goals, activities, and hierarchies; it has knighthoods and squireships, it has awards for arts and crafts and community service. The sport has regular camping events that end up looking like temporary compounds of hundreds to thousand+ members, lasting from a weekend to a week. We may not have a singular God or Invisible Hand we all worship, but we have strong community norms towards things like inclusion, creating positive experiences, some modernized gender-neutral version of chivalry, creating safe spaces, etc.

If you didn't know me very very well, you might know that 'oh yeah, he does some kind of sword fighting thing on the weekends I think?', and not know there's a large and strong community there.

I wonder how many other things are like this - I think 'oh yeah, they play softball on the weekends, oh yeah, they belong to a knitting circle, oh yeah, they go to a lot of concerts, oh yeah, they volunteer at some kind of community center', and have no idea that there's a strong close-knit community surrounding those things that remains largely invisible to outsiders.

https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/highlights-from-the-comments-on-liberalism