[peter12]

The collapse of communities is a moral and social phenomenon that I find very interesting. My work with First Nations communities over the years demonstrated the exorbitant impact that intra-group politics and relations have over external influences.

There is a great book by Edward Banfield called the "The Moral Basis of Backwards Societies," which investigates the failures of a small peasant village in post-war Southern Italy. Basically, even in an environment with a relative degree of plenty, villagers were unable or unwilling to cooperate to achieve even the minimal relationships to achieve better economic, health, political outcomes. Even the village pharmacist/doctor wouldn't treat or prescribe children from outside of his family circle without a prearranged payment relationship. The availability of drugs and medical equipment was not an issue.

Banfield extended his analysis later to inner-black communities, and found a great deal of similarity. He also found that government attempts to redress the problems tended to exacerbate them. I basically took Banfield's analysis and applied it to my studies on First Nations communities. It fit.

You have a lot going on at all levels. At the top, a rentier type political system, where benefits aggregate at a top-level, and are filtered down to favourites in the community. This is used to secure, and crystallize political power. Citizens - or more aptly, subjects - tend to disengage from political processes, and this has multi-generational effects.

At the economic level, again, minimal level of cooperation. Successful workers leave the community, or find a place in community projects funded by external sources, and controlled by community leadership. Everyone else just survives...

At a moral level, everyone has been disengaged to the point of atomization. It is here where the families start to break apart. Men become serial husbands. women become serial single mothers. Children are bereft. Distrust of outsiders becomes the sole mean of shared identity.

Police have difficulty even entering the community, and when they manage to get in, it is often token, or as a show of force. People see police as ineffective. Animosity and antagonism grows between police and locals. Violence ensues.

Cycle continues.