LOW birthrates, two-income households and the digital revolution are threatening the stability of communities, a leading sociologist has told a large Beechworth audience.
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Hugh Mackay, author of books such as What Makes Us Tick? and Reinventing Australia, addressed a record crowd of 550 at the Kerferd Oration on Sunday.
The Ethics Centre founder spoke of the art of belonging and threats to community interaction.
"Our low birthrate reduces the role children have traditionally played as a social lubricant in the neighbourhood," Dr Mackay said.
"The rise of the two-income household means both partners are often too busy, or too tired, to devote much time to nurturing their local community.
"The information technology revolution makes it easier than ever not to see each other and, in the process, to become gradually less articulate and less comfortable in face-to-face encounters, especially with strangers.”
Dr Mackay argued a strong sense of belonging would be essential in emergencies.
“Beechworth discovered it with fires – a bushfire and supermarket fire – suddenly you know what a community is, because these are the people who rush out and help,” he said.
“Let’s not forget that the most precious community we belong to is the local neighbourhood – because when we’re in a jam, that’s all we’ve got.”
Dr Mackay dismissed a notion peddled by some scientists that humans by nature were selfish, and said people had always chosen to live in communities.
But he said a declining birth rate and increased rates of divorce compounded the problem of disconnectedness.
Up to 40 per cent of Australian marriages now end in divorce, and the fertility rate was only 1.8 children per woman last year.
In the last century, the country’s population grew fivefold but the number of households had increased tenfold, according to Dr Mackay.
“If you’re looking at a household that contains a man and a woman who are married to each other and have never been married to anyone else, currently living with three or more of their own children and no one else’s – they are now the eccentric fringe,” he said.
“Whereas once we would’ve said that’s a mainstream Australian household.”
Wooragee resident Karen Bowley was inspired by Dr Mackay’s message, and said she had spoken to neighbours to arrange a get-together.
“I’ve always thought that it’s very important to socialise with people, and he confirmed it,” she said.
Emcee Judith Doughty said store Quercus Beechworth would host a street barbecue on November 27.
Residents were also encouraged to make an emergency list in preparation for bushfire season.