The Principle
If indeed it is the strongest that survives in nature, why wouldn’t the same principle apply elsewhere too? Except the above statement is questionable.
Text books on evolution will tell us how undeniable it is that the strongest and the fittest will survive to carry on the flow of evolution. I will not attempt to confirm or deny this. What I am saying though is that in everyday life it is not always necessarily true.
Life is a lot of things. Your daily routine, your work, your #family, your hobbies, etc. But all of these are tied together by something we all need. #Money. And money comes from a system we call economy. Economy like other aspects of our reality has many faces. If my kid sells lemonade on the street she is part of the economy. If I buy or sell stock, I am part of economy. If you own a hotel you too are part of economy. Daily 9–5 activities at work are another face of economy. You see where I am getting at?
The Fact Of The Matter is...
For the past 10 or 20 years (at least) we had been conditioned how everything is connected through global economy. After all most of the production had been outsourced to a handful of places in the world. When one stock exchange crashes, all crash, etc. So it follows that an economy that has such profound powers has to be strong. Strong is robust. And if we all submit to such a powerful and robust system we can rest assure that everything will be OK.
Look around. Is everything OK?
‘Everything’ would be a major overstatement.
You see, a system that is powerful and robust cannot be shaken by an opinion, bad news or unexpected event. Would you agree? It follows then that what we had been relying on in the past decades is not strong or robust. Not by a long shot. Our global system is strong when it comes to influence and momentum, but that is all.
Going Local
In localized economies there is direct dependency on local clients, local suppliers, national clients and suppliers etc. There is a hierarchy here. And yes it can extend to global markets. And a lot of times it does. Hence the occurence of globalized local market.
When a product is made locally using local resources it comes with a number of perks:
- product is traceable
- there is an increasing likelihood these days that the product will be eco-friendly and sustainable. In which case this too is traceable.
- brand
- honest and focused effort of those involved in making the product which leads to better quality in most cases
- better quality means the buyer will likely use it longer. This results in less waste and repeated purchase from the same seller
- the product will likely be ethically made
And these are only the major ones. When you live in a world (or community) with a network of such local businesses that is what makes that system strong, healthy and robust.
So yes I reckon that local economy is a lot more robust and secure than the global one. Should we abandon the global economy then? No. but let us not give it more importance and power than it deserves. After all, all your needs are local, here and now. So it is only natural that you keep going back to that sense of belonging, doesn't it?