From Lois Lowry's The Giver, please explain the community.

The community in which Jonas, the protagonist, lives is made up of family units. Mothers and fathers do not choose each other based on love; rather, they are placed together based upon compatibility for living together. Parents are required to apply for children, no more than one boy and one girl, and to bring them up according to the rules of the community. Children are born to birth mothers who, after three years, do not get to raise their children, but go to labor in the fields for the rest of their lives. There is no mating allowed, so those who hit puberty and beyond must take pills to suppress sensual desires. Parents receive one baby at a time, and only during the naming ceremony, which happens along with all of the other yearly ceremonies for all childhood age groups.

Each December at the annual ceremonies, children receive more freedom and responsibility as they age. For example, at age nine, girls are permitted to remove their hair ribbons and everyone gets a bicycle. However, with the bicycles, there are more rules to follow, such as maintaining it and parking it where it should go. The most important ceremony, however, is for those who turn twelve. This is the year they receive their assignments for the careers they will train and fulfill for the rest of their lives. 

The community lives under a condition which they call Sameness. This permits everyone to live as equals, happy and under no anxiety for their survival. As long as a person is fulfilling his or her role in the community, life can be pleasant. They are able to live this way, without stress, fear or pain, because of a Receiver who holds within himself all of the memories of the history of the world. Since all of the pain, misery, and even love resides in the Receiver, the people of the community can live emotion-free lives. 

One governing committee, called the Elders, run everything, keep an eye on citizens, and enforce the rules so that living under Sameness can be maintained. It is this group that decides what occupations children will train and study for. They are also the ones who make any changes to the community or rules, and also grant releases. People do not exactly know what the word release means, though. As a result, they do not know about or understand death.