Local Futures

What do we all care about, really care about? We all want time for friends and family, A world in which everyone has enough to eat and a roof over their head, CLEAN AIR, CLEAN WATER, a stable climate. That’s what we want.

But what are we actually getting? The fact is, most of the things we truly care about are further away than ever. So what’s gone wrong? In a word, the economy. More specifically, the global economy.

In the global economy, our taxes subsidize corporate giants while killing off local businesses. There's more CO2, fewer jobs, and less democracy. All of this works for multinational banks and corporations, but it doesn't work for people and the planet.

Time for a deep breath. Time to clear our heads of all the mumbo-jumbo of economists,politicians and other so-called experts. Time to think an unthinkably simple thought: If the problem is globalization, how about heading in exactly the opposite direction and supporting local communities and economies instead?

Whichever way you look at it, localization is a winner. It reduces inequality, It cuts down pollution, It provides more and better jobs, It connects us -- with life and with each other. And yes, it even helps to tackle climate change. Better still, it’s already happening!

So what can we do to help things along? First, Join the movement to say "no" to the trade treaties that hand over ever more power to global banks and corporations.

Second, Put pressure on policy-makers to level the economic playing field, by insisting that the taxes, subsidies and regulations that currently favor the big and the global are shifted instead towards the smaller and the local.

Third, join with community groups that are rebuilding the economy from the ground up.

Going local: for a world in need of change.