Words have meanings and the word community generally imparts a sense of belonging.  People in a community tend to have something in common.  They come from similar backgrounds, are generally in the same socioeconomic group, perhaps share hobbies and  interests.  They have something that binds them together.  In the good old days, before “communities” were designed and force-fed on Americans, the sense of community evolved naturally.  Neighbors were friends who helped and looked out for each other.  They took in a child who might have inadvertently been locked out, picked up packages for neighbors or retrieved a trash can that was blown down the street by the wind.  In this brave new world of controlled living, the sense of community is no longer communal but rather a gathering of people who delight is spying on their neighbors.  Now a child who is locked out might get rescued by the police, mail is left out and the association is called to report a stray trash can.   

Ileana Johnson joins us On The Commons this week.  Ileana is an American by choice and a Romanian by birth.  She is a freelance journalist, an author, a speaker and a radio commentator.  She also maintains a blog at www.ileanajohnson.com.  Ileana and her husband currently live in a Homeowner Association in Virginia where inspections are conducted regularly to ensure that no blade of grass exceeds the allowable length and that all things visible on the property conform to some rather vague standard.  Creativity and individuality are highly frowned upon.  Ileana tells us about life in her 300 square foot apartment in Communist Romania and draws some parallels between Communist Romania and HOAs, American Style.  Sometimes it is hard to find much difference.  

I find it ironic that we raise our children to value individuality, diversity, acceptance and freedom, yet sadly what we teach them by example is the exact opposite.  In fact we have created a world where individuality is tantamount to a sin, diversity and acceptance can best be described as mere suggestions not to be taken seriously and freedom is a totally foreign concept.  We have allowed special interests to create an artificial world where even the freedom of self expression can be, and is, detrimental to our health and wealth.  How else does one celebrate individuality except through self expression? And  how do we handle diversity?  If we hide all the things that make us different and unique, how do we learn to accept and embrace our differences? Like everything else, the best place to start is at home.  Let’s do away with all the insanity that is part and parcel of mandatory HOA living.  Like Communism, it is never going to work.  It is time to take a lesson from a children’s song “Come with me, take my hand and we’ll go to a land where you and me are free to be you and me.” 

Dr. Ileana Johnson joins us On The Commons.  Ileana is a published author, her book,  Echoes of Communism.  She is  a columnist, commentator and blogger.  Her blog is called  IleanaJohnson .  She grew up in Romania under the Communist regime where no one was permitted to have more than anyone else, and uniformity was the order of the day. As she described daily life in Rumania, where respect for people and property were non existent, I was struck by the similarities to modern day life in America’s HOAs. The similarities were many but the differences were sometimes simply titles.  “Economic police”? “Chair of the Architectural Control Committee”? After all, a thug by any other names still smells as foul.  (With apologies to William Shakespeare) .  “Come with me, take my hand we’ll go to a land where you and me are free to be you and me.”   You will want to hear this interview.