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A
Strong, Local Economy is the Best
Published Saturday,
March 13, 1999
Im not a socialist
and Ill bet you arent either. We think concentrating the means
of production in the hands of the government is appalling. But concentrating
production in the hands of a few corporations is somehow acceptable to
us.
Big corporations love two things: merging and taking production offshore.
The corporations say almost every time that the purpose is to increase
efficiency and to become more competitive. The real
goal, of course, is to increase profits. The profits are distributed to
a few shareholders, while the improved earnings drive up share prices.
At no time is any real wealth generated, and theres usually a human
cost. When banks, telecommunications companies, media companies, and automobile
producers merge, the efficiencies result in layoffs and plant
closings. Wheres the real profit in that?
Well, Scott in the column next door may sing the praises of big business
and a global economy, but I take exactly the opposite stand. It is a diseased,
out-of-control institution, filled with corruption and operating without
values. It is a dangerous concentration of power and we should resist
it whenever possible. I recommend you read The Post-Corporate World:
Life after Capitalism, by David C. Korten. This book offers a practical,
human-centered alternative to global capitalism run amok.
The corporate/global economy doesnt care about Nevada County, although
we desperately need prosperity. We have too few jobs, and many of them
dont pay well. We watched mining and logging evaporate, but have
not replaced those industries with anything significant. And large corporations
arent going to help us out.
We dont create products the world cares about, and if we dont
work hard to change our economic model, we will be a community of consumers,
with the charm of the foothills as our only asset.
Consider that government and education are our biggest employers. But
government and education dont produce goods. Our numerous realtors
and merchants have a valuable role, but again their task is not production
of goods.
Tourism is part of the economy, but its hardly sufficient for prosperity.
Tourists come to see our trees and lakes, admire our quaint buildings,
and marvel at the natives. Mostly, they marvel at how we make a living
here.
At our industrial best, we have a handful of companies, like Tri-Continent
Scientific, Eigen, Farlows Scientific Glassblowing, Tektronix, Innovative
Metal Fabrication and the video products companies, that contribute products
to the world. Good start, but just not enough.
So how can we create an economy thats local, vital and personal?
Lets try the following:
Dont get too excited about big corporations coming here. Once in
a while, a small R&D office locates here.
Encourage small independent manufacturers. These companies have a scale
of operations that is right for the county.
Encourage companies that invent, innovate, and produce intellectual properties.
Make cottage industry the most sought-after class of business in the county.
Increasingly, corporate employees and small independents work at home
and this is where the future will be. The infrastructure (buildings, utilities,
septic and roads) is already in place. (Truth in column-writing: I earn
my living in a cottage.)
Encourage new directions for the Economic Resource Council (ERC). It seems
to be mostly concerned with luring White Knight corporations
to locate here. In fact, the ERC has other concerns as well, including
improving the education of and retraining of potential employees. It has
not yet produced a plan for cottage industry -- the traditional birthplace
of electronics, books and artifacts.
The Rural Quality Coalition (RQC) is strong on master planning, and should
develop white papers and guidelines to show businesses how to fit an economy
into the foothills. The RQC could provide proactive solutions for land
use. Where will people work, live, shop, learn and worship? Will they
walk or drive? How should they wire their homes for 21st century technology?
Encourage local farming. The produce tastes great, and we gain a measure
of agricultural independence in our county.
Id like to buy all our planners and social engineers a copy of SimCity,
Lords of the Realm or some other resource management game software. Maybe
they could work things out on a computer screen.
Its a time to innovate. After all, this is the county where Furby
was invented. Now if that sort of creativity can happen here, surely we
can create solutions for the economy.
Barry Schoenborn is a technical writer, and a ten-year resident of
Nevada County. You can write to him at barry@wvswrite.com. The opinions
of columnists are not necessarily those of The Union.
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