In my Brussels apartment building (there are about 25 units, mostly owner-occupied), we have a homeowners association ("HOA"). I'm on the board this year, for my sins. The board is a sort of pin-cushion, navigating the middle ground between cheapskate owners who want top-quality services but at bargain-basement fees, and the management firm that oversees maintenance, projects, etc.
It occurred to me that being in a condominium (where the "Nazis" aren't always those who you might expect) is a bit like a country belonging to a multilateral organization. You have to sacrifice a bit of sovereignty, a bit of that freedom to do as you damn well please, in exchange for those things that are feasible in numbers.
For individuals, that might mean living in an urban or semi-urban setting, where there is intellectual stimulation and where you don't have to use a car to accomplish any task beyond mowing your lawn. You don't always have to live in a condo or apartment complex to live this way, but there is a greater density of population, even for single-family dwelling urbanites. You're going to get along with some of your neighbors, and some will never cease to be a pain in the neck.
When it comes to countries, some opt for the constraints of belonging to multilateral organizations because they see safety in numbers: tiny Luxembourg, hemmed in between France and Germany, was occupied (actually, annexed) by the latter in the two world wars. For Luxembourg and other countries coming out of the 20th century's cycle of wars, surrendering a bit of sovereignty to organizations like NATO and the European Union was a bargain they were willing to strike.
Sure, there are downsides: in the UN, the US and other democracies have to listen to lectures on such things as human rights from countries to whom waterboarding is just a prelude to the really nasty stuff. But, as the senior George Bush found when confronting Saddam Hussein in 1991 with much of the world standing behind him, there is strength in numbers.
In the many issues facing President Barack Obama, from climate change to universal health care to rekindling the economy, it's worthwhile to consider this trade off between public and private, between solidarity and individualism, between living in a condo vs. a MacMansion. Just today, in the New York Times, you can read about how several American communities are thinking the unthinkable - "car-reduced communities," like they have in Germany.
European media have been intrigued by the possibility of an Obama Administration breakthrough on making health care available to most Americans - something that is a given here, just part of what it means to be a civilized democracy.
Yes, those "Condo Nazis" exist, but they can be tamed, and probably a worse enemy is the "condo dropout," the person who doesn't bother showing up at the annual meeting. In this current situation of multiple world crises, no country can drop out from issues of mutual governance, where the problems are beyond the power of one country to solve. It's good to see that the US is rejoining the "HOA."