COOPERATION AND COLLABORATION

In Streeter and Scales, chapter five discusses the integral parts of individuals, and the seeming dichotomy between them. On the one hand, you have a culture of individualists who are involved in the mass “production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services” (Scales & Streeter, 2004, p. 55), versus those who are into protecting and saving the environment, and much like the Native peoples, are dealing with the devastation of the natural world by mistaken consumers. They were the ones clearing the land to build houses, fishing the waters to provide food for their people, hunting the buffalo, and killing the Native peoples, who wished to remain on the side of protection and sustainability. But, living in society as we do, a blend or cooperation of both sides to this matter, is important. There are some good things that the white man did. For instance, he provided for education, for the arts, for musical events, for libraries, for hospitals and medical care, for fountains, for the preservation of parks, etc. In our global society, these things are good.
It is important for us to be organized and to cooperate with one another. In a world where resources are fewer and fewer, and jobs are becoming fewer and fewer, the social worker strives to meet these balances by providing services to the hurting, the poor, and the marginalized. In a perfect world, we would have enough of these services to provide for everyone. But being that we live in an imperfect world, we will have to make do by building community assets and community capacity. To collaborate with other communities who are experiencing similar problems as our community is having, is the most significant procedure.

Scales, T.L., & Streeter, C.L. (Eds.) (2004). Rural social work: Building and sustaining community assets. p. 55. Belmont, CA: Thomson Brooks/Cole.