>>as direction became centralized outside the neighborhood.
Mmm hmm. Neighborhood = Parish.
Where people lived, worked, played - together.
Those of us who lived through the forced busing festivities circa 1970-72 had a front row seat to how those neighborhood communities were deliberately destroyed.
You are right about that deliberately. The Left is not about idealism, benevolence, kindness or compassion. It is driven by a deep & unquenchable loathing for reality. Until more on our side recognize the neurotic drive to force a denial of reality on the rest of us, we will remain--as a group--on the defensive.