As the economy begins to slow down and it becomes more of a chore to get anywhere, more money to do anything, and the supply of useful and useless consumer goods dwindles, the choice is clear: we are going to be spending more time in our local neighbourhood, or more time getting to faraway places. As this happens, our work and recreational activities will need to become more locally focussed.

It is my impression that Western economies, in general, push us towards individualism, towards individual wealth and accumulation of capital. Unfortunately, for all its benefits, capitalism has unwittingly divided us up into individuals who work to pursue the (American) dream of the home, car, and a bunch of stuff. At the same time, we as Western individuals are being taught to be suspicious of anyone at anytime for any reason (ok this might be an exaggeration...) including their neighbour. Well...this has to stop!

In a scenario where things are likely to get slower, and where services are harder to obtain, who are we going to call on? And those of us who provide services at a professional premium, how are we going to behave economically when our skills are called upon to benefit others in our local area?

One of the things that we can all do as individuals is to find out who are neighbours are. Who will come to our aid when something goes amiss, who will talk to us when conventional communications are temporarily disabled (or worse)? We would do well to find out the skills of those around us, in case those skills may need to be called upon. It may also give comfort to those around us if they know, for example, that we have a talent for corralling snakes, a knack for unclogging gutters, or can darn socks (anyone out there darned a sock lately??) It is great to talk about relocalization on a webplace like this - but talking about it with your physical neighbour is also great!

One of the obstacles to effective relocalization is the determination of value. If I am an electrician, will I refuse to provide service to members of the community who may not be able to afford regular electrician rates? If I have a small but normally profitable farm, will I let my unsold produce go to waste because not enough people buy at the price I want? These are questions that people need to be asking of themselves and then others. When the chips are down, a community will thrive if its members act in the interest of the community, and not of the bottom line. For those of you considering your 'economic value' in a relocalized world, consider this...I believe that water, fresh produce, and handypersons are significantly undervalued in today's Western economies; in a relocalized world, we will need to recalibrate the value of a clean drop, a good meal, and someone who can give your computer, television, block-splitter, or shoes (as the case may be) an extra couple of years. Today we just throw it away. Recently, I bought a new pair of shoes when the cobbler told me it would be $100 to resole my old ones. It is a hard pill to swallow, but it's not the cobbler that's overpriced - those new shoes are just too darn cheap, but I digress...

I can see how economists might see such 'community transactions' as a step away from capitalism and towards socialism...perhaps they are right. After all, a sack of potatoes and a pineapple in exchange for fixing a light socket isn't the type of transaction a conventional government likes - it isn't taxed and doesn't contribute to the growth of GDP...but I digress (again!) to a future blog, perhaps, on the taxation ramifications of relocalization on education and medicine, and by extension, education and medicine's impact on our ability to develop relocalization...

The long and short of this rant is that at some point, we need to stomach the idea that our skills won't command the $ that many of us think we deserve; and that neighbours, working together, can create real local economic sustainability if they are willing to stomach this necessary fact.

Get to know your neighbours! It may be a bit unnerving at first, but is rewarding once the ball is rolling. Chocolate chip cookies seem to work well on the first knock on the door...unless they're allergic to chocolate, gluten, egg, or dairy, but hey, it's the thought about someone else that counts.

Peace