The Radical Whole
Chris Lempa
Black Oak Presents
Winter 2007

Community pride helps keep small town USA vibrant and livable.  One of the easiest ways to support your community is to support locally owned businesses.  The people who own these businesses spend more money within the community and lend more support to local events and charities.  Thus, buying locally is the most efficient way to insure community development.

The Buy Local movement is Nativist in the sense that it promotes the idea of consuming as close to the source as possible - whether it's locally, regionally, etc. We believe that this model should be promoted throughout the world. This can be called Global Nativism.  The end product would be a spider web of thriving, interdependent local economies.

Our's is a positive campaign that focuses solely on what our community has to offer.  In other words, it is important to acknowledge what we don't have while taking pride in what we do.  For example, while Charleston, IL - the town in which I reside - doesn't have a locally owned grocery store, we do have a bustling, seasonal Farmer's Market twice a week.

All too often people gripe about the deficiencies of small town life and this is a shame.  From unique shops to a much friendlier atmosphere and slower pace, small towns often provide a niche that city life can't offer.  Big cities, such as Washington, D.C., are recognized as the political hub.  However, many social and political movements originated in small, rural communities.

A shining example is the Populist Party of the late 19th century. The Populist Party's power became so great that the Democratic Party adopted much of the party's platform and nominated their presidential candidate in 1896.

A more recent example is the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF). They provide "free and affordable legal services to grassroots, community-based environmental groups, and rural municipal governments." For the past ten years they have been "draft ordinances for local governments and assists organizations to assert direct, local, and democratic control over corporations." Through their hard work and dedication, CELDF has become a leader in the reformation of the relationship between corporations and American communities.

By promoting locally owned businesses, the Buy Local movement is working to spread inclusion through Global Nativism.

Chris Lempa is a streetwise professor in search of the perfect cup of coffee
and the perfect glass of water. He is a guest editor at www.Strike-the-root.com.
  You may e-mail him at 8lempa8@gmail.com.

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