SOCIAL capital is the glue that binds us together.
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It is "both a glue and lubricant - a glue that holds societies together without which collaboration and co-operation would not be possible; and a lubricant that facilitates getting things done".
We have seen plenty of social capital in the past few months in the way that we have come together in response to the bushfire crisis.
But we know that there is an increasing lack of trust in our institutions.
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This is what the ABS (the statistics people, from way back in 2002) have said about social capital: "increased national economic prosperity is not necessarily accompanied by increased social well being for all ... for many, well being is not directly correlated with income ... aspects of social capital are seen as having benefits for the economy ... to encourage co-operative behaviour and trust ... to draw together business, government agencies and community groups to solve problems collectively ... In Australia, social capital has emerged as an area of great interest to a large number of government agencies, community and welfare organisations, research institutions. The potential for social capital to make a positive contribution to outcomes in diverse areas of social concern such as health, community safety and education has captured the interest of policy makers ..."
The key part of this is "aspects of social capital are seen as having benefits for the economy".
I wonder if our current crop of policy makers (our councillors and council staff) as well as our prospective leaders will see that Bathurst is more than just an economy, and make decisions to improve our social capital.