Reconsidering Theater as a Civil Society Institution

Whether one prefers a Bible study, a soup kitchen, or a motorcycle club, a well-developed civil society institution fulfills two needs for its participants: a communal need and an interest-based need. In recent years and across diverse political persuasions, Americans have united to lament how threadbare their communities have become, regardless of their trust in the government to patch up the holes. No matter who is to blame, 21st-century conservatives must not allow the warm antiquarianism wafting off the phrase “civil society” to cloud its simplicity. To zero in on the welfare state as the chief corruptor of free association is to assume food, shelter, and healthcare are the most basic of human needs. These assumptions can mask the true purpose of human communion, and therefore of civil society organizations. After all, “It is not good for man to be alone.”