I note you mention Amazon and online stores. Yet you do not mention how they can or if they should be included. Think of a bookshop that is a bricks and mortar store - easily seen as a local business. CONTRAST it with a clicks and collect place - is it a local business? How do you deal with the latter if they have an Amazon or e-Bay listing AND only such a virtual listing? BE good to get some ideas on what your concshy network did and think about this.
Marcus, I just now saw many comments. Thank you for engaging! The principle we went by was Subsidiarity—an ever-widening circle of connection from the person to the planet. There was no purity test, but a practical one.
So, it went, "local" meant that a particular bricks-and-mortar shop (with more than 50% owned by a person in a local region) was the first priority. A local franchise was second. A chain was next, and then online. This taxonomy is aligned with the "economic multiplier" effect of local vs. online.
Of course, the practical test works. If a person could not find what they were looking for, then of course you would have to buy online. The hybrid case is interesting and worth considering.
I believe that the main takeaway is that we did not exclude conventional businesses, but were inclusive of conventional to regenerative, as well as private AND cooperative, from profit to mutual aid and barter.
"A Network Commons represents a community-based collaborative initiative where nonprofits, private for-profit enterprises, religious organizations, civic entities, mutual aid and gifting groups, cooperatives, and public resources are intentionally interconnected, shared, and governed by an engaged community of stakeholders."
Richard I like very much your inclusiveness. It is something I often struggle to explain to others that we have a commonality which transcends our particular focus. That we should work on this is what I want to see. I have seen this work for peacebuilding where there were parks built across borders between contesting countries. I would like to see the same happen with Russia and the EU for example - but it is very hard for others to understand this perspective or even work toward it.
I appreciate that Marcus. Peace at the national level, in my opinion can't be achieved by nations, because a nation state is an instrument of force and violence, therefore it operates at a world level in it's appropriate geo-political context.
To achieve peace, we finally, all over the world, in 50,000 villages, towns, and cities, need to build the foundation for a new type of globalization and "trickle-up" peace that will inherently reduce the economic and political power of the state.
This can't be legislated, but has to be earned by us, as citizens.
So, to me we need a spiritual revival and awakening to the true power of the Transcendent God as Divine Love manifested as a symbiotic communities
I note you mention Amazon and online stores. Yet you do not mention how they can or if they should be included. Think of a bookshop that is a bricks and mortar store - easily seen as a local business. CONTRAST it with a clicks and collect place - is it a local business? How do you deal with the latter if they have an Amazon or e-Bay listing AND only such a virtual listing? BE good to get some ideas on what your concshy network did and think about this.
Marcus, I just now saw many comments. Thank you for engaging! The principle we went by was Subsidiarity—an ever-widening circle of connection from the person to the planet. There was no purity test, but a practical one.
So, it went, "local" meant that a particular bricks-and-mortar shop (with more than 50% owned by a person in a local region) was the first priority. A local franchise was second. A chain was next, and then online. This taxonomy is aligned with the "economic multiplier" effect of local vs. online.
Of course, the practical test works. If a person could not find what they were looking for, then of course you would have to buy online. The hybrid case is interesting and worth considering.
I believe that the main takeaway is that we did not exclude conventional businesses, but were inclusive of conventional to regenerative, as well as private AND cooperative, from profit to mutual aid and barter.
"A Network Commons represents a community-based collaborative initiative where nonprofits, private for-profit enterprises, religious organizations, civic entities, mutual aid and gifting groups, cooperatives, and public resources are intentionally interconnected, shared, and governed by an engaged community of stakeholders."
Richard I like very much your inclusiveness. It is something I often struggle to explain to others that we have a commonality which transcends our particular focus. That we should work on this is what I want to see. I have seen this work for peacebuilding where there were parks built across borders between contesting countries. I would like to see the same happen with Russia and the EU for example - but it is very hard for others to understand this perspective or even work toward it.
I appreciate that Marcus. Peace at the national level, in my opinion can't be achieved by nations, because a nation state is an instrument of force and violence, therefore it operates at a world level in it's appropriate geo-political context.
To achieve peace, we finally, all over the world, in 50,000 villages, towns, and cities, need to build the foundation for a new type of globalization and "trickle-up" peace that will inherently reduce the economic and political power of the state.
This can't be legislated, but has to be earned by us, as citizens.
So, to me we need a spiritual revival and awakening to the true power of the Transcendent God as Divine Love manifested as a symbiotic communities