Localism: Bringing Together Conservatives and Progressives
Francis Eanes
Issue date: 4/16/09 Section: Opinion
What does a Lancaster County Amish farmer have in common with a green-leaning community activist in Philadelphia? Where can ardent Republicans (even libertarians!) find ideological common ground with their political counterparts? The answer, at least in part, lies in localism - the movement towards local economies and shorter supply lines of all kinds. While almost everyone defines "local" differently - for some it means buying everything within a bike's ride of home, for others it includes anything produced within one's recognizable geographic region - the intentions of living within one's physical, economic, and geographic means are often similar. After all, is the progressive desire for ecologically and humanly sustainable communities really so different from the centuries-old Protestant work ethic and conservative ideals of self-reliance?
At the risk of over-generalizing, let me qualify all subsequent claims with the fact that plenty of free-market-touting politicians of every political stripe have no interest in slowing the advance of globalization's world economy, and certainly will not renege on any of the previous two decades' free-trade agreements. And plenty of middle- and upper-class American households, no matter their religious or political leanings, enjoy the benefits of year-round produce from South America and LCD screens (and every other imaginable good) from China.
But plenty of these very same households are beginning to realize that the party of rash and over-consumption cannot continue indefinitely. Many religious and political traditionalists are increasingly aware of the the correlation between the breakdown of human communities and the rise of consumerism centered around the individual, a way of living and buying that destroys the connections between producers and consumers. And people of all world views - the atheist and the fundamentalist - have to admit that the taste and textural qualities a vine-fresh tomato unvaryingly outclass their grown-for-shipping counterparts picked two weeks too early.
At the risk of over-generalizing, let me qualify all subsequent claims with the fact that plenty of free-market-touting politicians of every political stripe have no interest in slowing the advance of globalization's world economy, and certainly will not renege on any of the previous two decades' free-trade agreements. And plenty of middle- and upper-class American households, no matter their religious or political leanings, enjoy the benefits of year-round produce from South America and LCD screens (and every other imaginable good) from China.
But plenty of these very same households are beginning to realize that the party of rash and over-consumption cannot continue indefinitely. Many religious and political traditionalists are increasingly aware of the the correlation between the breakdown of human communities and the rise of consumerism centered around the individual, a way of living and buying that destroys the connections between producers and consumers. And people of all world views - the atheist and the fundamentalist - have to admit that the taste and textural qualities a vine-fresh tomato unvaryingly outclass their grown-for-shipping counterparts picked two weeks too early.
Viewing Comments 1 - 4 of 5
Christopher Dodds
posted 4/23/09 @ 9:34 AM EST
I'm back to, yet again, provide the truth to Messiah College students after reading stories in the Swinging Bridge that simply repeat often told, yet misleading and sometimes false, stories. (Continued…)
Alison Stratton
posted 4/23/09 @ 1:26 PM EST
Christopher,
I would like to reiterate the fact that articles published in the opinions section of The Swinging Bridge reflect only the opinions of the author of the article, not of the newspaper and its staff as a whole. (Continued…)
Francis Eanes
posted 4/27/09 @ 12:45 PM EST
Christopher,
You seem to be missing the forest for the trees. If you take a narrow, critical view of legalistic localism, you can certainly find all kinds of holes. (Continued…)
Emily
posted 4/28/09 @ 5:41 PM EST
"I spend my time writing articles for larger newspapers such as the Philadelphia Enquirer."
It's typically good to know how to spell the names of the newspapers you write for. (Continued…)
Post a Comment