The Economy: Local Resilience Through Collapse

As we consider the likelihood of long-term economic contraction, what can we do about it?

Like anything in the Transition movement, we need to consider the appropriate scale. In Part II of this series we examined what several thinkers had to say about our Big Picture economy, yet most of us have little-to-no ability to make an impact at that scale. Most of us are working within the Transition movement or other local groups because we understand that at the grassroots scale, we do have considerable ability to make a difference.

Rob Hopkins might have a unique opportunity to work at a much larger scale because he is in a smaller country where there are lots more Transition initiatives and his Transition efforts have already gained the attention of several Members of Parliament. But most of us, particularly here in the U.S., are not in those shoes.

Thus in this section we will leave the macro-econ transformation to those who have ability to teach and influence at that level, and we will turn to the grassroots level, where most of us are working. What can we do, at the grassroots scale, to address economics, and to build local resilience?

Our first task is to create a shadow economic, social and even technological structure that will be ready to take over as the existing system fails. — David Ehrenfeld

Hopkins selected the Ehrenfeld quote for the margins of the Transition Handbook. When I first read it, the quotation was quite alarming. “Whoa, we’re not setting out to take over the world!” I thought.

But as I contemplated it, I realized that what Ehrenfeld was talking about was creating the safety net — creating highly resilient structures which will enable our local communities to survive, hopefully with a relative level of peace and security.

It’s perhaps easier to see how this safety net approach applies in the case of our food systems: By building up local, organic urban agriculture, we are better prepared for the point at which peak oil and climate change choke our massive-scale agribusiness and cause it to crumble and fail.

In our economic systems, too, we must create the safety net that will be ready in place as the existing system coughs, sputters, or fails. As all of this economic contraction unfolds – as globalized corporations struggle and panic, as today’s power elite are tumbled and replaced, as we all ride the wild rollercoaster – we, the little guys, will still need to feed our children, maintain a roof over our heads, and maintain a relative degree of order within our local hometowns.

If you freeze and worry at the thought of the economy, it’s no wonder, because we’ve made a horrible mess of it in recent years. We’ve made it hideously complex, to all of our detriment, plus most of us have become dependent consumers.

It might help to remind you of the simplicity, that what economics really boils down to is the sum total of transactions between people. Think of a simple barter transaction: You know your neighbor and he knows you. You swap some homegrown zucchini for a few backyard chicken eggs. That’s an economic transaction.

At this most basic scale, we feel secure: there will be food on the table. When we become producers — particularly, producers of the basic stuff of everyday living — we will always have something to exchange.

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