Essay On Counterfeit Community

According to Freie, community is an important concept when considering sociology. He states that a community “is continually changing and adapting to challenges in the environment and is created over time as people form connections with each other, develop trust and respect for each other, and create a sense of common purpose” (Freie,1998, p. 21). Therefore, genuine communities involve human relationships where people are actively participating and cooperating with each other to create self worth and the feeling of connection as well as share a basic common values and beliefs. However, he explains over a period of time these communities have become distorted and twisted in what he calls a “counterfeit community,” or communities that are used …show more content…
“Counterfeit community attempts to shift the traditional thick conception of community of community to a thin version of pseudo-community and represents an undermining of an important aspects of human association through the manipulation of images, sounds, and symbols” (Freie,1998, p. 35). Based on this assumption, Freie says this effect then leads to disconnection between people by claiming to be apart of a community but also not have social responsibilities, such as with the genuine communities, which in turns separates them from reality. I think he is correct on this assumption after reading his thesis on counterfeit communities. As stated, a counterfeit community is a separation from reality in a community; therefore, people are less involved and undermined important aspects of how humans associate with one another. I find this concerning as much as Freie does, people should be able to have social relations with one another and understand the reality of communities in all its forms. With out a community functioning correctly, how else are people suppose to have are social needs met, and clearly a counterfeit community is not a solution. Therefore, I agree with Freie’s argument in regards to the dangers of counterfeit