A Season To Rejoice!

OK, so here we are...in the throws of another holiday season! This one may feel a bit different, though? There seems to be a lot going on all around us. Consider just a few items of interest/concern:

The Economy, President Elect Obama, Bank Bailouts, Corporate Bailouts, Rule Bending in the Mortgage Industry, Global Fears of a Prolonged Recession, Layoffs, Hiring Freezes, Hope & Change, Wars and, Oh Ya, still no cure for the common cold! (for the last one try "Emergen-C" or "Air Born")

I'm not sure Olde St. Nick is going to get much press this year? I think he could use a little help in that department. Maybe a casual mention to a few close friends, a family member or two or a trusted co-worker? How about grabbing a friend and popping out for a weekend romp though your favorite...dare I say...antiques store? You never know what little action, multiplied by a few of those you know, could spark a momentous or even a seismic shift? You could even find something you've always wanted or even run into a big sale???

After all, as the old saying goes..."you just never know...?"

Do We Shop Locally?

I woke up today filled with questions! Think for a moment where we tend to shop. Do we know if we tend to shop local, regional, national or international? Do we know where the things we buy come from? How they arrive in our hands? Are we aware that as an active member of economics 101 the “where and how” we shop shapes the world in which we live? Is it possible that we have at least some control of our local destiny?

For years we have been carrying on a national dialog about the effects of the “Global Economy!” We engage in populist speak and toss about references to NAFTA, the WTO and the IMF, etc. We carry on like Jekyll & Hyde with our discomfort over how another local factory has moved to China or the corner clothing boutique just closed without giving us proper notice. On the one hand, we feel a bit unsettled about it. On the other hand, we push it a little deeper. We push it past the horizon of our immediate sense of urgency as though we need to accept the inevitable.

What happens, years from now, when we look back? Will we see the local community that attracted us to move away from more familiar environs or the once reviled hometown? Is it possible that the local shops we blindly drive by today will become impossible to avoid as we can’t help but notice how many are gone? What if, for the next few days, we just count the number of locally, owned and operated shops as we drive through our daily grind? If we merely count them today, will we be able to count on them being there tomorrow?