Hi, This thread, it seems, has struck a nerve. I offer another angle. Communalism relies on practices of reciprocity and on creative economy based on sharing. Companies are entities devoted to practices involving markets and exchange. There are of course plenty of hybrids - companies where caring for others is strongly valued as well as voluntary associations with business interests. There are also plenty of pretenders, where the relevant words are mouthed without actually being translated into practices. I do see them as antagonistic. Each inscribes a certain model of human activity. Communalism posits that we are first and foremost a social species, whereas companies, as legal agents within markets, posit that we are basically 'homo econimus'. This is the same tension that defines and separates sociology and contemporary economics. Which model truly represents our species' characteristics? The web of social ties or market transactions? The triumphalism of the latter fosters the yearning (or nostalgia) for the former. One of the really important distinctions between the reciprocal practices of communalism and the exchange practices of markets depends on the (relative) alienation of entities that circulate. In markets, entities are primarily alienable, they are sharply separated from their creator or owner and are then assigned exchange value or worth. In reciprocal practices the entities (usually gifts) are inalienable, they socially tie benefactor and beneficiary and carry moral obligations. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ David C. Neice digital-literacy.com :-) Website at http://www.kw.igs.net/~neice/ Address: 47 Combermere, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 5B2 Tel: 519-885-2951 Fax: 519-885-5263 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~