Networks vs. Communities

Like ever other nonspiritual thing you have ever built in your life, your professional network is going to depart you. No matter how well you and another person have found affinity and respect each other through your professional acumen and concordance with each other, nor how much time you’ve spent at that together, it is most most likely that once you retire, you will no longer have much of a relationship with that person any longer. Though phone calls may always be welcomed, you both will no longer have the same shared cause and interest in your lives that founded your professional relationship. Just ask anyone you know who has been retired for a few years. Many people you associate with in your professional network are wonderful and may play vital roles in your welfare, but wont be a lasting member of your community.

Professional networking, via LinkedIn and otherwise, as well business success, has been a basis for success because in the society that we’ve had from the early 20th century up to now, wealth alone was the prime means for security and stability. But as we face possibilities such as the likely coming breakdown of supply chains for essentials like food, greater censorship, surveillance & control, and CBDC money that is no longer under your autonomous control to save, invest, or spend as you choose, relying solely on business associations for your life enhancement becomes a somewhat less adequate approach. All beneficial relationships are based on the golden rule: To have people you can reach out to and rely on, you must first be someone who has value to offer that others can rely on, as well as have some like-minded concordance of views with them. The monetizable value exchanged in professional relationships used to provide a fairly-comprehensive life benefit either party (which is why it was so emphasized), but now it does not.

Business associates may frequently be nonlocal people in remote New York or London offices who you mainly communicate with remotely. And regardless of their location, they are almost always people who you would never trust with things like looking after your children for you while you are going through some serious challenge, or sharing some of their food store with you when yours runs-out. You may enjoy many rounds of golf with them, but they generally dont visit you in the hospital nor bring by your groceries and prescriptions for you after you’ve been released and getting bedrest at home. And though real friendship with business associates happens, most of as are familiar with the advice against choosing friends for business partners. I worked in a company two of whose principals founded as friends. A few years later they were not even on speaking terms with each other.

Direct relationships with people who you share like-mindedness with on things besides work, and who have reliable value to exchange with you even when money and commerce-as-usual become less reliable, are more worth having now. Knowing a local farmer who will sell you fresh food, even for certain types of barter when needed, is one example. People who have direct hands-on life-durability skills that dont rely on purely transacting with money. People who share your aspirations and you beleifs for how you should be able to live in your society. People who share or who can honor your spiritual and religious faith. People who you know you can reach out to when things are NOT operating ‘normally’, and with whom you can together help to work through.

Some people who already have these types of relationships are those who share a spiritual community, or who still have lasting brotherhoods from time spent together in the military risking their necks to keep each other safe. There are alot of mad people running around these days who you’ll do best to let go of, some of my earlier friends and even family members turned out to be in that category for me. But there is still a preponderance of decent people who simply want to be left alone to try to live free & well, leave others to live as they choose, willing to form a variety of cooperative relationships. It takes some time, but is not hard to find practical common interests with those people near you, and to forge a community network with them.