Rebuilding the Local Economy

Here is how I envision a global network of thriving villages and cities. To promote sustainability, each neighborhood community has the features of a village: 

            · Town hall

            · Agricultural center/edible gardens/farm market

            · Shops where skilled people provide goods and services, and offer apprenticeships

            · Schoolhouse

This structure supports a healthy culture and self-sufficient economy at the local level.

It translates well to the scale of a city. A city, surrounded by villages, has a marketplace where people of the region exchange ideas to encourage progress. It is a hub for the import/export of regional specialties, as well as coordination of utilities and transport. A town hall forum hears the people’s demands and answers for the market’s supply. Associations elect members who speak for collective interests. Cooperative projects balance input/output between communities.

Technologies that use a global framework are implemented according to this template. Local associations send elected members to represent different aspects of the proposal. Transparent self-governance, equal opportunity, and a network of open communication secure public and private interests.

There is always work to be done within a community, and each person has a service to share. A jobs center maintains a list of the openings and coordinates with other locales as needed. A person who visits a jobs center is interviewed on talents and interests, and then matched with an opening.

Children rotate through courses in school according to individual development and aptitude. Exposure to local and global trade associations gives children the ability to find fulfilling work. When school studies are complete, a child enters an appropriate apprenticeship. Upon mastery of the trade skill, an apprentice may move to another location in need of that skill. Serving the community as either an apprentice or skilled practitioner earns a living wage.

Within each region we have the main resources to thrive as a people. The village/city network utilizes resources responsibly and supplements local offerings through trade with other regions. 

I hereby submit this proposal to the People

We the People of the United States of America petition for a government that is responsive to the needs of the people. We define “people” as individual citizens. We define the needs of the people as follows:

1.     Affordable food, housing, utilities, education, healthcare, and transportation.

2.     A living wage that ensures a single-income household is able to live comfortably and debt-free.

3.     Clear action to establish and support local, sustainable options to meet basic community needs.

4.     Freedom from discrimination on any ground such as ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or belief structure.

5.     The transfer of illegally and unethically obtained corporate assets to cancel the people’s debt, and the strict regulation of corporate responsibilities to the people.

6.     A new, transparent legal code that prescribes community service rather than imprisonment for nonviolent offenses, and reassigns all imprisoned nonviolent offenders to community service.

7.     A return to America’s leadership in human rights, holding accountable any government or corporation representative in violation, and restoring the basic freedom outlined in our Constitution.