Over the autumn I’ve blogged about the local economy, supported by posts on Tuesdays and Wednesdays comparing the private and third sectors and considering organisational structures. These are links to the first post in each sequence and I will prepare cornerstone pages soon. So here is my vision for the local economy from August 2014.
My Vision from August 2014
My vision is of bringing the marketplace back to the centre of our lives. I don’t mean the marketplace politicians drone on about. They mean the market in financial assets, mediated by banks and institutions in the City of London and other global centres.
I mean the centre of community life, where people go to trade, yes indeed. But that is not the main reason they go there – the market is where you visit the library, go for a swim, enjoy a concert (on street or in a concert hall), join in public worship, meet friends and build relationships with acquaintances. Giant corporations, who dominate the shopping streets and malls, have takenthis from us in recent decades.
It has been eroded by the activities of large corporations, and this corporatism is not the same as capitalism. It is the enemy of small businesses, sucking finance from local economies.
Online Implications
The Internet is also dominated by corporations. But if we plan to reclaim our neighbourhoods as marketplaces we must also claim the Internet for the same cause. It can support local economies. It can encourage collaboration between small businesses in their neighbourhoods. We need to learn how to use it to help rebuild local economies wrecked by the plundering corporations. This is what this site is about.
It is about how we can use our online presence to support local economies. It is about creating a positive interface between small businesses and community, voluntary and faith groups.
This will need a great deal of collaboration between many people if it is to become a reality. Politically the aftermath of the Scottish referendum in the UK may be an opportunity to devolve power from the London-based establishment to the regions. I will write about this and other developments that have a bearing on local economies.
But my contribution is to support small businesses and voluntary groups who want to work together online to support their local marketplace.
What do you think?