Derrick Jensen, writer and actvist asks, "What binds communities together?"

David Orr, professor and chair of Environmental Studies at Oberlin College,
first responds by saying,"Industrial civilization destroys communities.
For one thing, it's frantic and community begins to fail when you increase
the velocity of people and goods beyond a certain level. I mean
velocity in every sense of the word, from cars on freeways to
the velocity of information."

Then states,"We also have to simply reconnect people. Capitalism
and technological society have atomized us. We have few obligations,
few bonds, lots of cash in our pockets, and lots of time on our
hands. That has ecological implications. Atomistic people will be
destructive of the earth. They cannot be otherwise. Until we make
ourselves homecomers, in real communitis, we will be tempted
to substitute motion and consumption."

-Taken from Listening to the Land: Conversations about Nature, Culture and Eros
By Derrick Jensen