I've started considering this in a lot of my buying decisions. How can I support a local, indepdent craftsman, and avoid supporting a large, multi-national corporation?
The local guy does this work because he cares about it a great deal. He is motivated to optimize for quality & pride over profit.
There's a great article by Charles Eisenstein that I love. In fact, I really enjoy just about everything that guy writes. Here he talks about a model for groups of about 20 to do food production on their own and share the results.
I also like a related article by Sally Fallon, although there's some stuff that I like to ignore (comments on global warming, drugs, and deforestation). The part I do like is the idea that by doing local, small-scale farming & food making, you create a richness in the local economy. The richness manifests itself in a strong community, a reliable safety net, and an outpouring of creativity.
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Wow, that first one is a really good article. The second one was a bit alarmist, but did have some good points.
The hard part (in America, at least) is actually convincing your neighbours to start getting involved. When people grow up with the attitude of "this isn't my community, it's just where the building in which I live is," then its harder for them to realise the benefits of a closer community.
Of course, those who already have a more close-knit community you will probably find are more willing to preserve it.
Those of us who "wake up" to the realisation that community is more than just being friends with your immediate neighbours, I'd guess, will likely find themselves feeling out-of-place. For myself, I'm starting to gear myself more towards living in a "smaller" place for exactly that reason, but others might not have the same drive or resources. Some may even think that they can "fix" their community. Whether or not they can remains to be seen.
Either way, good reads! :)
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