Communitarium Project – III
Combatting “Idiotism” and Rebuilding Our Collective Life Through the Communitarium Project
One of the greatest challenges in building alternatives to the capitalist lifestyle is confronting the way in which our very ability to participate meaningfully in society has been eroded. Neal Curtis, in his book Idiotism: Capitalism and the Privatization of Life, describes how capitalism has systematically “privatized” our social existence, reducing our capacity to engage with others and view ourselves as part of a collective. Curtis argues that this privatization creates what he calls idiotism—not in the pejorative sense of the word, but derived from the Greek idiotes, meaning someone who is concerned only with their private affairs and removed from public life.
In this post, we explore how the Communitarium Project seeks to combat idiotism by rebuilding the collective sphere of life. In a world where our attention, relationships, and communities are constantly commodified, communitaria offer an alternative that reclaims these basic human needs for collective good, restoring meaning to our interactions and relationships beyond their market value. Through this process, we can confront the capitalist forces that keep us isolated, hyper-individualized, and disconnected from our ability to act collectively.
Idiotism: The Privatization of Life
Under capitalism, we are increasingly encouraged to live as isolated individuals. The idea of being part of a community, or seeing oneself as responsible to and for others, has been replaced by the imperative to compete, consume, and maximize personal gain. Curtis’ notion of idiotism captures how capitalism shrinks the scope of our lives, directing our energies inward toward private concerns—our careers, our purchases, our individual successes—at the expense of any sense of broader solidarity or public responsibility.
Idiotism is more than just a retreat from civic engagement; it is a fundamental reshaping of how we experience the world. As consumers, we are trained to view everything through the lens of individual utility. Our relationships, attention, and time become commodities to be bought, sold, and optimized for personal benefit. Even basic human capacities like trust, cooperation, and care for others are reshaped into transactional, market-driven interactions.
In this way, idiotism dovetails with the capitalist lifestyle. Under the current hegemonic system, people are often unaware that their daily choices and actions—far from being “free”—are deeply shaped by capitalist ideologies that prioritize individualism, consumption, and competition. Our sense of solidarity and shared purpose is eroded, replaced by a world where public life is minimized, and we retreat into our own private spheres.
The Communitarium as a Solution to Idiotism
The Communitarium Project seeks to confront this privatization by rebuilding public, collective spaces for meaning generation and social life. In contrast to idiotism, communitaria offer a lifestyle that is rooted in community, cooperation, and shared responsibility. Rather than seeing themselves as isolated consumers, members of a communitarium experience a way of living that is grounded in mutual aid, collaboration, and care for others.
Within communitaria, people actively engage in the governance, management, and nurturing of their communities. The spaces themselves are designed to foster these connections. Whether they are physical, digital, or a blend of both, communitaria provide a platform where people can contribute to and benefit from collective life. From shared resources to cooperative decision-making, these communities offer a radical alternative to the privatized existence that capitalism promotes.
One of the key ways the communitarium combats idiotism is by providing structures where people can see the tangible results of their cooperation. For example, instead of relying on corporate-owned services to meet their needs, communitarium members might collectively grow food, run community kitchens, or develop shared housing. This fosters a sense of ownership and responsibility that goes beyond individual consumption and helps people recognize the power of collective action.
Reclaiming the Intimate Processes of Social Life
In the first post, we discussed how capitalism has “fracked” the most intimate processes of social reality—our trust, attention, and ability to cooperate—and turned them into resources to be exploited at scale. This not only commodifies our relationships but also distorts the very nature of what it means to be human. Under capitalism, our ability to connect with others is repurposed into something transactional, which strips away the deeper meanings that can only be found in genuine, non-market-driven interactions.
The Communitarium Project offers a space to reclaim these processes. By building communities that prioritize human connection over market value, communitaria restore the capacity for trust, cooperation, and solidarity. Members of a communitarium are not competing with each other for scarce resources or trying to maximize personal gain; instead, they are building a community that supports collective well-being. This restores the schmooze-level social reality—the day-to-day interactions and meaning-making processes that form the bedrock of human life, but which have been so deeply exploited under capitalism.
Communitaria create the conditions for these basic social processes to thrive by removing the incentives for competition and consumption. They offer a space where people can focus on mutual support, shared goals, and collective decision-making. In doing so, they actively counteract the hyper-individualism that capitalism encourages and create a culture where solidarity and cooperation are valued over personal gain.
Resisting Hyper-Individualism Through Solidarity
One of the most insidious effects of idiotism is the way it isolates us, making collective action seem impossible. The idea of solidarity—of acting together for mutual benefit—feels foreign to many people who have been trained to see themselves as competitors in a zero-sum game. This hyper-individualism not only impedes our ability to work together but also leaves us vulnerable to exploitation, as we are less able to organize and demand better conditions for ourselves and our communities.
The Communitarium Project directly challenges this by creating spaces where solidarity is not just a theoretical concept but a lived reality. In a communitarium, members see firsthand how their collective efforts can create positive change. Whether it’s through shared governance, resource pooling, or mutual support systems, communitaria provide a model for how people can come together to meet their needs without relying on the market or the state.
Over time, as more people experience life in a communitarium, the capitalist narrative of hyper-individualism begins to break down. People start to see that cooperation is not only possible but preferable—that solidarity can provide security and fulfillment in ways that capitalism cannot. The communitarium becomes a seedbed for new forms of social organization, where people learn to trust each other again, where mutual aid replaces competition, and where collective well-being is prioritized over individual gain.
Toward a Collective Future
Ultimately, the Communitarium Project represents a bold vision for combatting idiotism and reclaiming our collective life. By creating spaces where people can reconnect with one another and with the deeper, non-commodified processes of social reality, communitaria offer a real alternative to the privatized existence that capitalism promotes. They provide a model for how we can live differently, rooted in solidarity, cooperation, and mutual aid.
As these communities grow and proliferate, they have the potential to erode the capitalist structures that keep us isolated and disconnected. The more people experience the value of collective life, the less they will be drawn to the hyper-individualism of capitalism. In this way, communitaria offer a path toward a future where idiotism is replaced by a renewed sense of shared purpose and public life—a future where solidarity and cooperation are not just ideals but realities.
In the next post, we will explore how the Communitarium Project can scale up these efforts and create lasting, structural change that extends beyond individual communities. By building networks of communitaria, we can begin to lay the groundwork for a new way of organizing society—one that prioritizes human connection, collective responsibility, and the common good. Stay tuned for more on how we can bring this vision to life.