Where do we get our sense of belonging?
There is probably nothing existing that would have brought a
prouder smile to Fromm's and Maslow's faces than a meeting on 6/18/12 at the Town
Hall of Blue Hill Maine. This meeting
may be the beginning for the development of a sense of belonging so desperately
needed in this day and age in Blue Hill, the State of Maine and, indeed, all of
the world's people. This meeting
discussed local food ordinances. How much
more basic of a social venue empowering individuals can one get than a
determination of food choices?
How will the economy look if more local food ordinances happened throughout the nations? There are several possibilities including:
1. It will encourage people to get all their
needs met locally. Perhaps a person who
loves to build can thrive in building compost toilets or perhaps someone who
loves to knit can create clothes for others while using local materials (e.g.,
wool from sheep);
2. The goods will be of higher
quality. If you loved to knit, how would
you feel if the sweater you designed and made fell apart on your neighbor's
shoulder the first day she wore it? Furthermore, how would that affect your
business and even your friendships?
3. A person's craftsmanship will be
advertisement enough, thus your intelligence won't be insulted with blonde,
anorexic women and abnormally muscular men trying to entice you into buying beer
while engaging you into shop-till-you-drop escapades.
4. There would be full employment with
people supporting the community in line with their talents, passions and
training.
5. Communities and individuals would be
independent in creating their lives in relation to how they saw fit instead of
trying to be pigeon holed into a category of work or
philosophical/spiritual/theoretical/political philosophy.
The localization movement is thus about more than food. It is about the creation of local economy
through business models such as co-ops and alternative economics. For example, in Blue Hill, my wife and I
walked into a store that was a co-op; meaning it was managed by its employees. The atmosphere in this store was extremely pleasant
for one knew that the person behind the counter, telling you about the product
you were buying, wasn't just there for a pay check. They were there because they were deeply
invested in what they were doing. They
weren't working "for" someone. They were
working because they belonged to a community and were a service to that
community while also selling products manufactured or grown by people in that community
and its surrounding areas.
What if more people were invested in their communities
through service? Could we reduce poverty
while giving people a sense of purpose".a purpose that they can see?
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