Brick layers are not bad people. Brick layers are some of the most skilled artisans and craftsmen around. They’ve learned an important trade. They build homes. They build bridges. They build walkways. They build walls. And sometimes, we have to have a few walls for protecting intimate space and private rituals, don’t we?

But when you start brick laying for brick laying’s sake, when you become obsessed with building walls to protect or flaunt territories, or to acquire and exclusivize space, you have crossed the Rubicon from community builder to hermitage broker. Or worse, to destroyer of community. For a community is and needs to be an “open marketplace” for interaction, inclusivity, diversity, and growth.

We’ve all heard of the story of Babel. But most of the time, we’ve simplified that…