Humans do not normally live in isolation. We are normally born into a family unit. When the child becomes an adult, a mate might be chosen and another generation of offspring might issue. Each person has a community of relatives. Beyond an individual’s immediate family, there is a wider community. There are people with whom we play, trade, communicate and with whom we interact in many ways. Each of these people belongs to a family and other communities.

But why do these communities form? They are everywhere. We have friends, colleagues, people against whom we compete. There are also people who hold common religious beliefs, who support the same sports team, who listen to similar music and many many more communities. Why are there so many and why are they so successful?

If we look at the small community, the family into which we are born, there is a specific relationship between parent, between children and between each parent and each child. Children, particularly infants are incapable of independent survival. Parents or other adults must provide for their basic needs or else they will die. Parents are responsible for preparing their children for adulthood and must find a way to ensure that they have the skills needed to be able to function in the community. A parent often imposes his will on the child, but as the child matures, this influence will reduce. The parent behaves like a hegemon so we see some coercion in the family unit. The parents must cooperate at least some of the time, but there is probably some element of coercion in their relationship. But coercion cannot be the only characteristic of this family unit. If there exists a relationship between parents which is normally coercive and violent and the relationship between the parents and children is also coercive and violent, this can hardly be considered to be a family, unless the parents provide some resources for the children.

This original family unit, while it is evident everywhere we look, does not exhibit all the characteristics of other communities. Voluntary Exchange is a common characteristic of almost every community. Communication involves exchange. Individuals who assist each other usually exchange some sort of service or good as part of their cooperation.

Sometimes this exchange happens at different times and might be considered to be a form of credit. Frank might helps Jim with his harvest and in return, Jim could help Frank to fix his roof next month. Romantic relationships involve exchange, where each party shares and exchanges their time, labour, ideas, contact, pleasure and resources. With no exchange, there is no romance. If the relationship is built on coercion and violence, it is not romantic. Theft is another activity, but it is not generally considered to be a community building activity, it is not voluntary in both directions and is not generally considered to be an exchange either. It can be argued that charity does not involve exchange and charity is both voluntary and common, so there is at least one form of social interaction that does not involve exchange, but it is difficult to argue that the relationship between a benefactor and a group of beneficiaries, forms a community. If one man enslaves another or enslaves many, this is not normally considered to be a community. You may have a community of slaves, but the slave owner is generally not considered to be part of the community.

Large communities have extensive cooperation networks. A community must start with at least two individuals. That relationship can be extended to many individuals in certain circumstances.

Without cooperation, each member will not strive for the betterment of himself or the community.