REBUILDING AMERICAN COMMUNITY LIFE.

Houses, roads and telephone lines can be built and rebuilt. Communities cannot. Construction engineers, efficiency experts, classical economists and others who are accustomed to orienting their thinking in terms of logically developed formulas, plans and specifications have been justly accused of thinking of people in very unrealistic terms. The fact that communities cannot be built need not mean resignation to the status quo. Social processes and change can be nurtured. The distinction between plans and quick building or construction, on the one hand and ideas and their slow nurture and unfolding, on the other, is fundamental because experience and history have shown that it is usually lost sight of by impatient people who attempt to change society. Planned revitalizing of community life must take into consideration the cultural backgrounds of the people involved. Existing cultural traits or processes should be used where possible in the nurturing of community development. Cooperatives and other group programs must be developed gradually if the patterns and required group integration for such action are not already in existence.