By: Camera Bear
A high-trust community is a beautiful thing. The value and benefit it can bring your life to be part of one is unparalleled by anything outside of a strong, close family. These communities historically include religious networks, churches, tight-knit neighborhoods, sports leagues, and school communities.
In our case, we have built one in a place where it was generally unheard of to be high trust—the internet. Since its inception, which many of us remember in our lifetime, forming relationships with people online has been taboo and not recommended. For much of my lifetime, they never went beyond gaming groups, message boards, and random chatrooms.
In recent years, as more and more of our lives occur online, they have become more common, but many people remain hesitant and skeptical. Then came the Unbearables, formed around an exiled comedian with a webcam, a loud mouth, and a penchant for pushing society’s buttons. We all know the story; if you don’t, I encourage you to watch the three documentaries at BuildingBeartaria.com.
It was a slow build, with most interactions happening in the live chat of daily streams and a few isolated group chats across the realm and web. As the world shut down and shut in during the events of 2020, we escalated at the encouragement of that same sailor-talking, and now conspiracy theory-touting comedian, and many of us began to meet in person for the first time.
At the same time, The Beartaria Times was created, first with a news website whose mission was to report the good, true, and beautiful things happening in our community. That quickly led to the creation of the Beartaria Times Community App. The Beartaria Times community is a separation from the savage comedy and societal breakdowns. Here we can detach from the commentary on clown world and have a place for solutions, not complaining, where we are not engaging in controversy or any of the mainstream paradigms like left vs. right, where a diversity of opinions, backgrounds, religions, and ideologies could agree on a trajectory for their life without conflict where they might differ. We leave that all at the door when we enter the castle walls. After several years we have had many new people who have heard of this philosophy and embraced our principles, that have joined the app and the community and have never heard one of those comedians’ livestreams.
This app gives us all a place within the castle walls to share our lives and families outside of the degenerate wasteland of mainstream social media, away from the data collection and the world we wish to separate from. It has led to countless marriages and children being born, business relationships, meetups, Builder Buddies, and an unimaginable amount of knowledge, advice, and support being shared across the realm.
I have been to meetups across the country and made some of the best friends I have ever had through this community and app. The difference this has made in my and my family’s lives, materially and spiritually, cannot be put into words, and I pray that I am giving some fraction of that back to the community.
However, a community and app like this can be taken advantage of, which brings me to this article’s purpose. In a place where we are so generous and willing to help in any way we can, including financially, infiltrators and fakes can occur. In a place where we believe everyone shares the same basic morals and values, some people who do not can slip in.
But I don’t want us to become skeptical of the whole group or withhold our generosity because of a few bad apples. The app can be used to build genuine lasting relationships. You can put in the work and time to build a presence and a reputation.
If, in a time of actual need, you request help, you will be more likely to receive the support you need if you have put in that time. My advice is to be humble and discerning. Not only in how you may seek help in any form but also in how you give it. Could you potentially donate to a fundraiser that misled you? Maybe, but you will be rewarded for your generosity while the dishonest party will surely reap what they have sown.
Another example could be applied to the singles group. Some people there may not share and uphold the values of the overall group. Again some bad apples may slink in, but don’t throw out the whole group because of them, take a page out of that nightclub comedian’s book and use your personal ban hammer to block anyone you deem unsuitable for communication. Put in the time and use your better judgment before taking any significant steps.
The Beartaria Times Community and App are a fantastic place to detach and elevate from mainstream society, make lasting friendships and build a future together. It is a high-trust community you can benefit from and find value in for a lifetime. However, that does not just come to you automatically upon arrival.
Put in the time and work; you will see what I mean.
