Localization, economics of happiness, and Louisville mayoral cluelessness in the service of 1Si.

Helena Norberg-Hodge discusses how economic decisions stand in the way of personal happiness in this timely interview, which is destined to skim off the kitchen linoleum like a common house fly with damaged landing gear. Keep reading for how all this relates to One Southern Indiana's most recent catastrophic public spectacle.

“Localization is the Economics of Happiness,” at Yes!

... What's the economy for, anyway? Do the rules and policies we create to govern the flow of money and goods exist to create ever more money and goods, or to improve our lives? And if we decide we'd like to prioritize the latter, how do we rewrite the rules to do that?

The thoughts of Norberg-Hodges that struck me hardest follow below, and those who had the painful misfortune to hear Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer speak to the faith-based acolytes of One Southern Indiana at the latter's annual back-slapping-orgy last week know exactly why (italics are mine):

... We need to be shortening distances and creating more accountable and visible arenas, basically decentralizing and localizing our economies. But because of deregulation of both trade and finance at the global level, businesses are being pressured to grow faster and faster, to become more global, to increase in scale at any cost. The idea is either you go big and global or you die. But for our real needs, relatively small businesses closer to home can actually provide for our needs more efficiently and sustainably.

Courtesy of WFPL, here's what Fischer told the oligarch support society last week:

“We must internationalize all of us. If your business has the capacity to export and your not exporting I would say your days are probably numbered because the world is rapidly shrinking and rapidly changing and your foreign competitors are exporting right away.”

Now look back at the Tribune's unquestioning coverage of 1Si's down home camp meeting, with special emphasis on Jeff Gillenwater's comments:

Regionally speaking: Louisville mayor talks about regional initiatives at One Southern Indiana event

(JG): "As it stands, 1Si staging an event is front page news but 1Si misleading the public with billions of dollars and decades of consequences at stake isn't even treated as news. When that changes, this region's chances of improvement via honest dialogue and transparent interaction will correspondingly increase."

"7 Steps for Action Toward a New Economy," by David Korten.

Several others have pointed the way to this succinct and valuable article, as it appears at the web site of BALLE - Business Alliance for Local Living Economies.

Korten strikes to the very heart of perhaps the most vital issue faced by New Albany as city council elections approach:

Do we continue to out-source "economic development" to oligarchic entities like the GOP and One Southern Indiana, which persist in touting the "economic policies and institutions responsible for Old Economy failure," or do we bring these responsibilities and commitments back into our own houses, right here, by studying, future planning and building New Economy solutions?

Do we persist in groveling while proffering thousands to provide air conditioning at 1Si's behest for a multi-billion dollar foreign corporation, or do we begin using this money to empower our own people to work for economic solutions at home, in this community?

Do we continue to unthinkingly emulate the language of the oligarchs and ape their pieties, which naturally exist to "secure the privilege and extravagance of the few," or do we define our own terms and pursue principled solutions?

7 Steps for Action Toward a New Economy, by David Korten

Hope for our common human future depends instead on global cooperation to create a world in which every child can look forward to a prosperous, secure, and meaningful life irrespective of nationality, race, or religion. This will require replacing the economic policies and institutions responsible for Old Economy failure with the policies and institutions of a New Economy — one based on positive life-values and a democratic distribution of power.