And that is exactly what these corona measures are now trying to destroy - the community life.
I actually just started reading it over the weekend, and I don't mean to spoil anything for anyone that hasn't started and plans on doing so.
But I found it interesting that he felt compelled to add a foreword about covid, which sounds like a very safe thing to say in order to be able to get his work published, but how the first few pages he writes on the first rule of the book actually speak about the value of community, and networking and togetherness, interaction and company.
Long story short, and perhaps it would be better discussed elsewhere, he writes:
We outsource the problem of sanity. People remain mentally healthy not merely because of the integrity of their own minds, but because they're constantly being reminded how to think, act, and speak by those around them.
He posits, and I think it makes a lot of sense, (and I am still reading through it) that human beings can achieve a lot of things by themselves, but it's in reality through others that we become regulated. He doesn't say it as such, but it almost sounded to me as though the value of having a network of individuals who are true friends, who want the best for you, who can point out to you when you're wrong, and reward you when you're right, is almost indispensable for any personal growth.
And I think that keeping people isolated, and distrustful of one another is the perfect way to prevent this from happening.