Turning point

This may be a bit of a sticky topic for many; I know that going into it. I'll say up front that I have some very grave concerns relating to how this economic crisis will impact people in this country and around the world. I worry in particular about my parents, who have / had most of their retirement savings invested in AIG and the rest in a 401k, both of which stand to get battered rather badly in the course of this downturn.

That said, though, the instability of the global economy does provide some opportunities for other systems and options that have, to this point, been marginalized and rolled over by that international economy. Specifically, I am thinking about local finance, local economy, and local energy.

The first and most obvious is the potential shot in the arm that may be enjoyed by local financiers- credit unions. Many people far smarter and far better informed than I am have commented on the advantages, both personal and in terms of community, offered by a credit union as compared to a larger bank. These institutions may, functionally, be no safer than a bank, especially for those of us with less than 100k to put into them, but I know for my part that I relish the thought of actually being a voting member of my financial institution and being able to exercise some small modicum of control over the decisions it makes.

One step grander than that is the idea of local economy. Admittedly, living in the Pacific Northwest makes this a rather easier proposition than it would be in, say, SoCal. By and large, however, I can obtain just about everything I need in the course of my day-to-day life from a local producer. Food is an obvious one, but it extends also to most any craft good- furniture, clothing, home and body care products, and the like. This isn't universal- as I'm sure some clever person thought upon reading this, the computer on which I am typing these thoughts is anything but local- but watching the international economy falter provides an opportunity to look at localizing production and consumption.

Finally, there is the idea of local energy. Again, being in the NW I am situated rather conveniently to discuss this concept- Oregon and Washington have some very nice incentive programs in place for the installation and use of renewable energy. Small-scale, distributed power generation- be it in the form of micro hydro, small scale solar, or small turbines- provides ample opportunity to move away from the global energy trade and instead keep that money in our communities.

I genuinely don't know if people will pick up the ball and run with it, to use a cliche- whether our communities and our nation will be able to see the opportunity inherent to this crisis and move toward a system less prone to abuse and failure. But I hope I have the opportunity to help move in that direction.