“As Americans continue to climb their way back from the nosedive that started in 2008, we’d be wise to think twice before putting our faith in rebuilding the very institutions and cultural mythologies that were, at least in part, responsible for getting us in so much trouble in the first place. For all of globalization’s gifts — an increased sense of empathy for those on the other side of the world, being my personal favorite — one of the burdens has been feeling entangled in an economic web so vast, so intricate, that making smart, moral choices feels next to impossible. You read about the environmental plunder and exploitation happening in Congo, but then struggle to find a conflict-free phone. You don’t want to buy clothes made in sweatshops, but then you hear that you might be empathizing people right out of jobs in the Global South who would rather be vastly underpaid in dangerous factories than have no livelihood at all. It all feels so distant and so complex.
“What if one of the virtues for a stable economy wasn’t scale, but its opposite? What if the safest thing we could possibly do is invest in the people and places within walking distance of us?”
Read the full story by Courtney E. Martin….
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