> armed guards in gentrified neighborhoods
It's interesting, isn't it? When I see armed guards, regardless of the setting, the message I get is not "you're safe", it's "this area is so dangerous that they need armed guards".
I have the same reaction (albeit to a lesser degree) when I see surveillance cameras, especially ones installed by regular people.
Very interesting, indeed! I deliberate over this far too much for my own mental health. Feedback loops on feedback loops.
My life experience has been such that... I'll worry about the things these guards are supposed to be here for if/when it happens. It won't, and if it does, I know how to handle myself. It probably won't be the first, second, or third time. I consider anyone with a weapon a liability. Including me... but especially 'not me'.
The cameras are so gross. Please don't subscribe to surveillance, talk to your neighbors! If only community were really so easy...
> If only community were really so easy...
I've actually found that it is pretty easy. All it takes is to be willing to talk to your neighbors. Not necessarily in terms of engaging them with deep and long conversations, but just lots of the little "meaningless" ones. Saying hello in passing instead of pretending they don't exist. Learning, remembering, and addressing them by their names. Asking how they're doing. Asking how their kids, spouse, work, etc. is getting along. Offering a helping hand every so often goes a long way, too.
It seems to me that social isolation is self-reinforcing, and that once someone starts breaking the ice, the interactions that create community start to happen naturally.
It's these interactions that form the foundations of community. It's not a matter of making friends with your neighbors, but a matter of having your neighbors no longer actually be strangers.
This turned into a lecture I didn't intend. My intention was just to relay my observations and experiences with my neighbors.
My reactive thought is usually 'warning: power trips ahead'