On Saturday June 4th it was encouraging to hear Conservative MP Andrew Griffith (below left), when answering questions about expensive public transport, urge all to think local, work local and shop local. As he is now Director of the Number 10 Policy Unit we hope that he will take every opportunity to see that policies which will promote think local, work local and shop local will be introduced and acted on.
World Localization Day, to be celebrated on the 21st and throughout the month of June, is all about strengthening and expanding these initiatives — offering hope and inspiration to every corner of the earth. The Dalai Lama’s endorsement may be read here.
From farmers’ markets and community gardens to local business alliances, community land trusts and ecovillages, initiatives have taken off on every continent to reweave the fabric of local interdependence between people, and between people and the land.
Noam Chomsky (below right), who has known Local Futures founder Helena Norberg-Hodge since the 1970s, admires and appreciates her work. He wishes World Localization Day, and all those involved, the very best of success, writing:
Over the past four decades, the world has faced mounting crises on all fronts. Wages have stagnated, workers’ rights have diminished, poverty, desperation, depression and addiction are all on the rise. The gap between rich and poor has grown to unprecedented extremes, and the political establishment is virtually owned by the 1%. At the same time, rampant resource-use and mega-industry, linked to a global consumer culture, have set us on track to ecological catastrophe and unforetold suffering.
Behind all of these crises is an economic system in which globally mobile capital has been given the power to extract short-term profit wherever possible, without regard for the instability, exploitation, and environmental chaos it triggers. It is a system, subsidized by taxpayer dollars, that ensures protection for major corporations while it systematically eliminates smaller-scale, decentralized businesses and industry. Globalization has been designed by and for concentrations of private power, linked closely to state power.
The COVID-19 pandemic has incited widespread questioning of this system, and marks a historic crossroads: will we continue down this globalizing path, towards civilizational collapse, or will we decide to transform society for the sake of justice, peace, human well-being and ecological survival?
Now is the time to put an end to the policies that promote corporate globalization. We need to come together in great numbers to demand that our governments submit global businesses and banks to democratic control. At the same time, strengthening and diversifying local economies to provide for basic needs is of fundamental importance.
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Look to the Local: a re-skilled Britain 